Assignment One: Products and Emotion

PENS

(or as Montblanc calls them, “writing instruments”)

Visceral Design:

“visceral design concerns itself with appearances”
- Don Norman

Visceral designs appeal to the consumer by appearances alone. The aesthetic aspect is what matters to that person. As long as it looks good, or the person feels good looking at it, the visceral design is working its magic.

Some pens sell just by its appearance alone. They do not necessarily work very well. In fact, some fail abysmally as writing instruments. Perhaps the thought that goes through a buyer’s mind when he or she makes the purchase would be, “Oh my god! That pen is so cute!”

Here is an example of a pen that sells by evoking visceral emotions:

The cute and lovable – Lipstick Pen
(image from http://yourcutegadgets.com/Blog////index.php?cat=16)

It looks interesting. It really looks like a lipstick. But I suppose it will be uncomfortable writing with this pen due to its lipstick-like shape.
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Behavioural Design:

“behavioural design has to do with the pleasure and effectiveness of use”
- Don Norman

Consumers who buy pens for… well… writing, usually pick ones that will accomplish the job effectively and efficiently. Pens with designed with behavioural objectives in mind have no problem satisfying the needs of hardcore pen-users.

These pens however oftentimes sacrifice looks for usability. They lose out on the visceral aspect but gain on the behavioural aspect. People looking for such pens would normally be thinking, “Damn it! I need an ultimate pen to end all pens, and it better works!”

Here is an example of such a pen:

The almighty – BPKG-35R-F: Feed GP
(image from http://www.pilotpen.com.sg/bestsellers/ballpointpens.html)

The official product description says it all.

“Eliminate those long searches through your desk looking for the right ink colour. Now you can have four colours on standby in one convenient ball point pen.”

Hurray!
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Reflective Design:

“reflective design considers the rationalization and intellectualization of a product”
- Don Norman

In other words, reflective design hinges on the humanization of the product. If you could assign human characteristics to a product, what would they be?

Consumers who purchase products based on reflective design feel that they identify with the human characteristic of these products. The product is not really used for aesthetic appeal, nor is it for usefulness. It is used for identification purposes, a sort of clothing in non-clothing form.

More often than not, these products are used to show off.

Here is an example of a product that is great for showing off.

The “the pen is more expensive than the sword” – Meisterstück Solitaire Royal
(image from http://www.montblanc.com/products/precious_metals_diamonds_solitaire_royal.18058.php)

It is a fountain pen so I do not think it works better than a ballpoint. The 4,654 diamonds encrusted on its body does not make it very comfortable to hold. The pen does not look nice at all. But oh my god I am sure it costs more than some cars. And having someone see you holding this pen can tell a lot.

Assignment Zero: Bad Design

This is the mobile phone I am currently using.
Unfortunately for me, it also serves as an example of bad interface design.

Samsung P310

(official product shot from www.samsung.com)

I was seduced by it because it is
• slim
• doesn’t have too many irrelevant functions
• comes with a leather case that doubles as a spare battery.

It however takes quite a while to get used to, thanks to its quirky interface design.

now… Show me the nasty stuff!

Here’s a summary of (negative) comments from friends who played around with the phone.

“Ooo big button!”

Is this…
a) A nice big button for people with humongous digits?
b) A circular navigation button like the one on Ipods?
c) A circular slot for storing ring-shaped objects?

That round black button-like thing is actually the directional navigation button. It only goes up, down, left, and right by the way.
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“What the hell did I just press?!??”

This phone has a weirdo keypad. On top of the normal tactile buttons you find on most other ordinary phones, it also has two touch-sensitive “soft keys”. The two spots right above the “OK” and “C” keys are actually touch-sensitive buttons.

Why would you want to have a normal tactile keypad with just two touch-sensitive keys?! It’s not like those two buttons serve any special purpose. It also feels really weird when using the keypad because you sometimes have to alternate between pressing the normal keys and the “soft keys”.
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“Oh crap……”

You might have noticed that the numeric keypad is kinda like a deviant punk. Instead of the usual 3 (col) X 4 (row), it has 4 (col) X 3 (row). Keys that normally reside on the bottom row (“#”, “*”, and “0”) were evicted and re-located to the right side. It took me several months to get used to this unusual orientation.

What’s more, the “#” key, which is the “space” key for SMS-ing, is located right beneath the red “cancel” key. It doesn’t help that the keys are rather small and pressing the red key by accident while SMS-ing means that you just erased everything that you typed.

Sometimes… flaws are beautiful…

Despite its rather stupid interface design, I still like my phone.

I guess this shows that design flaws don’t really destroy a product altogether. A person who uses the product will weigh its benefits against its inconveniences and come to a judgment. It is the seriousness of these flaws, in different contexts of usage, that affect whether a product is broken or not.