Design and Emotion

For class this week, we were assigned to read the first chapter from the book Designing for Emotion by Aarron Walter. I was actually really excited to read about a book about design because I think graphic design is actually pretty cool! I love the puzzle that is graphic design and like this book says (in a round about way) good design evokes emotion.

I agree with Walter when he says that people like to see personality in design–personality from the designer and the company. However, Walter likens well-designed websites to the best meal you’ve ever eaten and your emotions that you associate with the meal, and I disagree. Yes, a website should be functional, reliable and useable, but not every website you visit will or should be the best experience ever. For one, that’s not possible. Two, a website’s purpose might not always be to give every visitor the most mind-blowing experience because the “experience” might not be the purpose of the company. I’m not talking about customer service per say, but a website for office supplies will never give anyone an amazing website-using experience that “has a personality.” As a consumer, if I’m going to order office supplies, I care more about usability than the “experience” and as long as the website isn’t just straight up tacky I’m probably going to keep going back.