Designing for Emotion | Chapter 7

At the close of the book, the author provides grounded advice for selling your boss on emotional design. Additionally, a few strategies for implementing emotional design are staggered by willingness to change. Clients can risk big to win big, or try smaller and more progressive changes to test the waters.

Either way, this section wins because it directly addresses the risk in emotional design, while recognizing its high returns when correctly executed. Practical advice on pitching to bosses appears solid: use case studies and focus on improving one key metric.

And of course, Walters opines on Mailchimp’s “party-pooper mode.” This is a great addition because it drives home the point that emotional design’s execution is 100% critical. Even the most creative and original designs must account for users’ wants and needs, while supporting essential functionality. Throughout the endcap chapter, one point is clearly reiterated: emotional design takes guts, but it’s a secret weapon in the right hands.

“Though our instincts might tell us that it’s risky being different, the greater risk is in being the same as your competitors, as you make it harder for people to understand why your brand is the better choice.”