Alors que le design dans le noir

I know, I know... I keep promissing to post regularly... but I just want to finish the Special Kiwis catalogue, instructions, etc. Anyway, a couple of months back was the design workshop at ITESM. Roberto sent me a brochure with the 6 best projects and pictures of the event. This year's topic was emotional design: "Objeto con-sentido" and I was amazed by some projects. My favourites are the 2 person raincoat and "Salvador" (a first aid kit). Congratulations to all students!

I haven't got the chance to read Don Norman's book on emotional design. It may not sound strange that people prefer a nice looking ATM over an ugly one... but that they actually describe their user experience based on the looks: the ATM hardware was the same for both machines, but people rated the bad looking one worst than the nice looking on things like: it takes a lot of time to load the next screen, the menus are complicated, etc... when in fact, both machines took the same ammount of time to load, and their menus are identical. That is being emotional about design!

Looks are not the only emotions we feel about objects... However, emotional attachment to a teddy bear may fall into kitschig emotions, unless the object has something more to it than that. Like the Luminou... q'on peut le voir! I am serious! The idea of a glow on the dark teddy bear is fantastic! That is an emotion that stands out from the normal emotional attachment.

Let's take another example: many people love cars... even their "crappy toyotas"... the thing is, to develop stronger emotions on the user(s)/buyer(s). Look at the new VW slogan: "Aus liebe zum Automobil" It's not just about caring about a car... it's about lifestyle and emotions.

Now, back to the "noir". One of my teachers once said that the official uniform for industrial designers is a black turtle neck. I always wore black when I was a student... I looked like an FBI agent wearing a black coat during summer! And now that I think about it... it's a good thing that "emos" or "goths" are common just recently... or I would have ended up wearing black and white makeup! Just think about it: what were we thinking listening to this:

"So you go and you stand on your own... and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry and you want to die!"

or... heaven knows I'm misserable now... etc... nowadays, I watch these Emo podcasts... !!! I agree that SUV's are just a terrible, terrible thing... and then there's the issue of global warming, etc. But I still believe that good design should be not only nice, but also emotional and responsible, and user friendly, and evironmentaly sound, and many other things. That's why I don't believe that creativity or ingenuity alone would do, when you have to take those many things in consideration. That's why I was glad to see that this year's workshop included at least some level of research, analysis and design methodology. Good on ya' mates!

ciao