Watching Don Norman's "Emotional Design" video makes me understand that a good design is not just about function and beauty but also it makes people feeling the story about it and having fun.
The frist object he showed was a Philippe Starck juicer, produced by Alessi. it's so much fun that he have it in the entryway of his house. the reason why he doesn't use it to make juice is on his gold-plated special edition juicer, there is a little slip of paper that saying " Don't use this juicer to make juice. The acid will ruin the gold-plating." the aethetics of the object was more important than its fuction. people will keep buying them because its really beautiful and fun. there is a another example show this idea, Mini Cooper car. although this is a car that has lots of faults. but people keep buying it because it's so much fun to drive.
He also point 3 levels to design good makes customer happy: visceral level, behavioural level, and reflective level.
Visceral level is subconscious which is obtained through intuition rather than from reasoning or observation. and in design you can express visceral in lots of ways, like the choice pf type fonts and the red for hot, exciting. for example is a water bottle. you buy it because of the bottle, not because of the water. and when people are finished, they don't throw it away. they might keep it for decoration or maybe fill it with water again, which proves it's not the water, it's all about the visceral experience.
The middle level of processing is the behavioral level. that's actually where most of our stuff gets done. Behavioral is also subconscious, you're unaware of it. it is all about feeling in control which include usability and understanding, but also the feel and heft. for example, driving a high-performance sports car over a demanding curb, will feel that you are complete control of the environment.
The third level is reflective, it's a little part of the brain that has no control over what you do, doesn't see the senses, doesn't control the muscles. It's that little voice in your head that's the seat of consciousness. for example the GM car, the reason you might buy it now is because you care about the environment. even though the first few cars are going to be really expensive and not perfected. but that's reflective design as well.
Overall I get some valuable and helpful knowledge. and Don Norman gives me a clear definition of emotion. it is all about acting, it's being safe in the world, and it's about interpreting the world, saying good, bad, safe, dangerous, and getting us ready to act, which is why the muscles tense or relax. and I also know that pleasant things work better. and a happy mood will makes you a breadth-frist problem solver. that reminds me next time when i design something, instead of worried about the result, i will having fun in design.
