Chapter 2 Designing for Emotion

The second chapter of Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter talks about how the human mind influences how designs are perceived.

I agreed with what Walter wrote about contrast and how too much or too little of it can mess with the effectiveness of a design. For example, when we were designing our business cards a couple weeks ago for this class, I chose to keep my design very minimal in order to keep the brain focused on the mission of the organization for which I was designing. Simplicity can really be key in design. The chapter also mentions Hick’s Law, which states that a higher number of alternatives, the longer it takes to make a decision. This can cause confusion in the target audience, who have to take more time and energy to weigh the cost. Of course, this confusion can lead to frustration, and ultimately, to the target audience going to someone else to fulfill their needs.

I disagreed with the idea that “attractive things work better” that Donald Norman came up with. While I do agree that in some cases the more attractive thing does work better and that it can make people feel better about themselves, that is not always the case. For example, I do not always feel better in clothing that costs more money or is more stylish. In fact, comfort and price are key factors in my clothes shopping. I look more for an item to be functional. I think people like things that can reliably get the job done, and it just happens to be a plus if they look nice too.