With so much emphasis placed on the technical side of creating web sites, it’s quite easy to forget about the human aspect. Psychology plays a critical role in how people react to a site’s design and should be considered thoughtfully during the design process.
In Designing for Emotion, the fifth book in the A List Apart series, Aaron Walter (MailChimp user experience design lead) explores the psychology of designing for emotion and illustrates its importance with several relevant mini-case studies (MailChimp, Flickr, Photojojo, and Mint, among others). Aaron identifies the commonalities among these sites:
- they are functional;
- they are reliable;
- they are usable;
- they provide a pleasurable experience
Attractive things make people feel good, which in turn makes them think more creatively. How does that make something easier to use? Simple, by making it easier for people to find solutions to the problems they encounter.
The bottom line in this book is that humans inherently desire a human touch. We want to feel as though we are interacting with a human being and not a machine. To achieve this, we as designers must better understand the psychological factors that come in to play when making human connections in order to bring about pleasurable human experiences. Accomplish this, and you’ll be well on your way to reaching your goals.
This book stands out from the others in the series because it focuses on the human or psychological (as opposed to technical, philosophical) side of web design. I have always enjoyed psychology and found this to be an intriguing and quick read. If for no other reason than to read the mini-case studies, I think this book is worth picking up.
Table of Contents
- Emotional Design
- Designing for Humans
- Personality
- Emotional Engagement
- Overcoming Obstacles
- Forgiveness
- Risk & Reward
