Designing for Emotion Ch. 3

Here is another blog post describing a fact that I agreed and disagreed with in our assigned reading. This specific chapter focuses on personality.

Agree: “Emotional design’s primary goal is to facilitate human-t0-human communication. If we’re doing our job well, the computer recedes into the background…” This is completely true because when you are marketing, advertising, communicating, etc. you want your target audience to see the face of your organization. You want to resonate something in them to make them feel like you have something important to say, and that they should take interest. People are  a lot more likely to connect with a campaign or statement when there is a face to a name, a person behind the wall, and a meaning to what is being said. It is comforting knowing that there is a person and a reason why organizations are doing what they are doing. Emotional connections only foster with human beings, as well as animals, etc. but that’s another aspect– at the heart of it they are being communicated with with a live person and that’s a lot more meaningful than believing a computer is your source of communication.

Disagree: “We want our apps to be used seriously, but also give the sense that we are more than just a piece of software.. Users react with effusive emotion to these cartoony, yet seemingly tangible interfaces enhanced by robotic whirs, bleeps, and blips.” While I think that websites and movies that have characters as their central focus are cute, I would not necessarily say that I take them seriously. When I first of MailChimp I thought it would be an easier design website that was used for basic design tools, ideas, etc. Monkeys are my favorite animal, so they have that going for them, but I still wouldn’t say that I took them 100% seriously. Which, is not a bad thing. Just because I don’t think the site is as mature or “professional” as it could be, it’s innovative and something entertaining, which keeps its users.