Emotional Design and Donald Norman

Some of you might already have come across this brilliant man. Donald Norman has provided a lot of insight in how and why design works that can be used for a lot of purposes, and of course in marketing. The idea of Norman is pretty simple, really. He argues that good design make us feel better, and that is why we like the products. Good design also makes us happier, and a lot of studies have shown that we can solve problems better when we are happy. How is this relevant to products you might ask; well think about it. If a product is somewhat complicated and ugly, the users are less likely to understand how to work it. However if the product is complicated but has a nice design, then the users are more likely to try understand how the product works. By having a beautiful design, a product is more likely to ‘get away’ with flaws. People simply accept the flaws just because they become emotionally attached to the product. By now it is pretty obvious how this can be applied in marketing, on a wide range of different levels; from web design and branding to product design and advertising.

It’s very easy to get stuck on YouTube and go through all the Norman videos. Below you’ll find one of the shorter videos that gives a quick overview of Donald Normans ideas regarding emotional design.

That all for now folk’s!