Designing products with added emotional value; development and application of an approach for research through design

In this paper a design approach is introduced for designing products with added emotional value. First, the approach is established, based on a theoretical framework and a non-verbal instrument to measure emotional responses. Second, the value of the design approach was assessed by applying it to the design of mobile telephones. Mobile telephones were found to be useful vehicles as people appear to have strong feelings about this product. A user study was conducted which resulted in the identification of two user groups (‘trend followers’ and ‘security seekers’) and for each group an emotional profile. Four telephones were designed which, for each group, either were intended to or were not intended to match the group’s profile. Finally, these designs were evaluated with the nonverbal instrument. The results indicate that the approach is appropriate for designing products with added emotional value. The advantages and disadvantages of the approach are discussed and further research directions indicated