by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Survey Part 01

The following post will examine the findings of my survey on the topic of joyful design. The goal of this survey was to outline characteristics and/or differences in perception of joyful design/a joyful object.

Method: Interview/Survey

Goal: Find characteristics and/or differences in perception of joyful design.

Number of Participants: 10

Age: 23—65


Question 01:
Which color do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

7 x yellow
2 x orange
2 x turquoise blue

1 x green, 1 x lightblue, 1 x white, 1 x melon

Question 02:
Which shapes do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

9 x round/circle
4 x star
3 x trefoil


2 x triangle, 2 x spiral
1 x half circle, 1 x heart, 1 x rhombus

Question 03:
Which sounds do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

4 x birds
3 x sea sounds
3 x wind/trees

2 x high, clear sounds, 2 x laughter
1 x Horn (note: participant is musician/plays horn), 1 x Bass, 1 x fast rhythms, 1 x cartoon sounds, 1 x cooking/roasting sounds, 1 x bright music , 1 x 60’s Mod Music, 1 x K-Pop, 1 x opening carbonated drinks, 1 x Popcorn

Question 04:
Which scents do you associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

4 x flowers
2 x roses
2 x sea breeze
2 x fresh cut grass

1 x lavender, 1 x new leather, 1 x computer water cooling, 1 x cinamon, 1 x fruit market, 1 x coconut, 1 x lemon, 1 x new furniture, 1 x books, 1 x sunscreen, 1 x fresh showered , 1 x fresh baked, 1 x candles, 1 x magnolia , 1 x forest, 1 x wood

Question 05:
Which taste do associate with joy? (multiple answers possible)

5 x fruity (watermelon, cherries, mango, raspberries)
4 x chocolate/nougat
2 x sour

1 x vanille, 1 x umami, 1 x coconut water, 1 x churches, 1 x sushi, 1 x summer wine, 1 x fresh orange juice

Question 06:
Which material feels better?
Options: glass, plastic, steel, wood, other

6 x wood
4 x glass

Question 07:
Which material feels better?
Options: silk, cotton, jute, faux fur, other

5 x cotton
4 x silk
1 x faux fur

Question 06:
Which images evokes the most positive feeling?

  • 2
  • 3

3 x

2 x

Question 06:
Which images evokes the most positive feeling?

9x

1 x

According to the survey a clear tendency to naturalistic elements is recognizable:

Color
Yellow, Orange, Turquoise:
According to my previous research, yellow could be described as the color of joy—that also reflects in my survey.

Orange and yellow make us feel alive and alert. Blue calms us down—this reactions may be rooted in our species quest for survive (this knowledge in turn connects to our joyful experience of rural landscapes—landscapes that where livable and therefore crucial environments for our survival). Also, we instinctively experience yellow as a happy or joyful color, because it is the color of sunshine and waking life. Whereas blue is connected with peacefulness and rest. [1]

Shapes
Round/circle, Star, Trefoil:
In general, organic shapes (round, trefoil) have been described as joyful—which can be linked to elements of nature. On the other hand the star also has been mentioned to be received as a joyful shape—that result can be described through cultural connotation.  In our history they have become sacred and spiritual symbols and are symbolic for protection and guidance. Stars are connotated with many different meaning—the most recognised image is the star as a symbol of excellence.

Sounds
Birds, Sea sounds, Wind/trees:
Sounds from nature were described as most joyful. Also, sounds that are linked to positive experiences are remembered as joyful. (Popcorn, cooking, favorite music, etc.). Participants also mentioned to perceive bright, clear and high sounds as joyful.

Scents
Flowers, Roses, Sea breeze, Fresh cut grass:
Natural scents—especially flowers—where from a vast majority described as joyful.

Taste
Fruity (watermelon, cherries, mango, raspberries), Chocolate/nougat, Sour:
Primarily sweet has been described as a joyful taste, followed up by sour. Again, natural tastes—fruits—were mentioned by a vast majority.

Materials
Wood, Cotton:
Natural materials such as wood and cotton were preferred by the vast majority of participants.

Environment
Woods, Beach:
The environment of woods with lake was perceived as most joyful, followed up by the image of a beach. That cresult an be described through the theory of our preference for Pastoral landscapes (= safe, propitious and liveable environment). Pastoral scenes are a part of our evolution, which is also the reason why we are so drawn to those scenes. Typical landscape scenes include, according to Denis Dutton, hills, water, trees, birds, animals and a path moving through the scene – an ideal landscape for humans, containing protection, water and food. Dutton notes that our species has evolved to feel a need for certain types of beauty in our lives and that this pull towards things such as theses landscapes has helped us to survive as a species. He also notes that all cultures value artwork that includes these scenes – regardless where people come from. [2]

Colors/Multiplicity vs Minimalism
Colors, Multiplicity:
The picture of a building working with colorful elements and multiplicity was preferred by nine participants. Only one participant voted for the neutral, minimalistic option. This result matches with my previous research where visual cues that evoke a feeling of happiness work with bright colors, multi-colored palettes and multiplicity.


Survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9bs06weEihFmH5nQdUv-5maDB3wymeLUoHY63TRp4ITTABw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Sources:

[1] Lupton, Ellen: Design is Storytelling. New York: Cooper Hewitt 2017, p. 108

[2] TED. Denis Dutton: A Darwinian theory of beauty. URL: https://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty (last retrieved November 14, 2020)

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

In this post, the concept of happiness as a basis for possibility-driven design and the challenges of happiness as a design goal and “possibilities” as key to reach this goal, will be addressed. While a problem-driven approach takes a problem as a start, a possibility-driven approach looks out for a possibility. The possibility has to be rooted in our knowledge of happiness, in human practice and human needs. 

Happiness

Happiness is an ultimate goal, for every human being. According to a study of Laura King and Sheri Broyles (1997) [1], where they invited people to make three wishes for “anything at all,” happiness was found to be the most common wish. In other words: a happy life is highly desirable.

To be happy is a quality in itself and a lot of research has been devoted to identify the conditions for, and the causes of, happiness. Moreover, in the last years, several beneficial consequences of happiness have been empirically demonstrated: happy people are successful in many life domains and these successes are at least in part due to their happiness. Happy people are more social, altruistic, active, like themselves and others more, have strong bodies and immune systems, and better conflict resolution skills. Moreover, happiness promotes constructive and creative thinking. Simply said, happy people are healthier, more successful, and contribute more to the lives of others. [2]

So it seems only natural to make happiness therefore a major objective for design. Designers need to find answers to questions such as: what causes happiness? How can people become happier? Can we deliberately make them happier? Even though the answers to these questions seem to be fundamental to our understanding of human functioning and flourishing, empirical re-search in the social and behavioral sciences on happiness is a rather recent phenomenon (Larsen & Eid, 2008). [3] This phenomenon led to a completely new discipline of psychology called Positive Psychology. Researchers working in this field argue that happiness has an affective and a cognitive component. The affective component is the balance of negative versus positive affect experienced on a day-to-day basis. The cognitive component is the amount of global satisfaction individuals express with their lives. In other words, a happy person is feeling good most of the time and is satisfied with life. An unhappy person is feeling bad most of the time and is dissatisfied with life. There is not one “ingredient for happiness” but there are several crucial ingredients, none of them alone sufficient to make a person happy. Within the research of happiness there are two views, which have been identified and labeled after Aristotle’s (350 B.C.E./1998 C.E.) classical distinction between Hedonism and Eudaimonia. [4]

Hedonic View [5]
The focus is on happiness that stems from savoring life’s pleasures. This requires an ability to enjoy beautiful sunsets, a delicious meal, a warm bath and good company. Hedonic happiness arises from the experience of positive feelings, per se. It involves not only the pursuit of activities that are pleasurable, but also the pursuit of one’s ability to truly enjoy these activities. In other words, becoming happier does not necessarily require more pleasurable activities, but can also be realized by taking more pleasure in our activities.

Eudaimonic View [6]
Also named virtue-based view, focuses on happiness that stems from the fulfillment through engaging in meaningful activity and the actualization of one’s true potential. This requires an ability to identify meaningful life goals, and to attain them. That means striving for something personally significant, whether it is learning a new craft, changing careers, or raising moral children. Those people are happier than those who do not have strong dreams or aspirations. Meaningful goals provide direction. Committed goal pursuit provides a sense of purpose and a feeling of control over our lives. The process of working towards a goal, participating in a valued and challenging activity, is as important to well-being as its attainment itself. Meaningful goals connect abstract values, such as being autonomous or feeling related, to everyday activities. Examples are: developing a drawing talent, contributing to the lives of others, bringing joy to people through music, raising children in the best possible way. Ed Diener and Eunkook Suh (1999) [7] proposed that effective meaningful goals involve approaching a desirable outcome (as opposed to avoiding an undesirable outcome), and enable a person to continually experience new challenges, take on new opportunities, and have a variety of experiences. In that sense, meaningful goals are possibilities rather than problems solved.

While Hedonism simply recommends identifying and enjoying the enjoyable, Eudaimonia takes a more normative stance. It prescribes ways of living in the world, which eventually lead to fulfillment and, thus, happiness, but may not be common practice or at least may not be easy to implement. It may need an “intervention,” that is, making someone doing something.

Hedonic Treadmill Theory [8]
A classic theory is the Hedonic Treadmill theory, originally proposed by Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell (1971). This theory suggests that people adapt to both good and bad events and return, over time, to their he- donic set point. For example, after an extremely good event, a person initially reacts with strong Positive Affect but eventually adapts and returns to his or her baseline level of Positive Affect. A similar adaption process occurs for negative events. A person reacts to a bad event with strong Negative Affect but eventually adapts and returns to his or her baseline level of Negative Affect. However, negative events produce relatively more intense and longer-lasting affective reactions than positive events: we adapt more quickly to good events than to bad events (Brickman et al., 1978). But, the rate and extent of adaptation to various events show wide variability across individuals, and there are opportunities to “overcome” the Hedonic Treadmill by employing strategies that stimulate cognitive reappraisals, that is, rethinking a given situation.

There is clearly an opportunity for design, by seducing, stimulating, or challenging people to overcome the Hedonic Treadmill and other barriers to their happiness through designed interventions.

An example: Martin Seligman and colleagues’ (2005) “gratitude visit” [9]: Participants had one week to write and deliver a letter of gratitude in person to someone, who had been especially kind to them but had never been properly thanked. This simple exercise led to a significant increase in happiness directly after the exercise—compared to a placebo control group—which then lasted for a month. While these kinds of activities make us happy—at least for a while—it requires some external impulse to actually do it. This is typical for eudaimonic happiness. The hedonic is more obvious to us and much easier to implement. [10]

The distinction between Hedonism and Eudaimonia is sometimes referred to as “the pleasurable life versus the good life”. This distinction is especially useful for possibility-driven design. Because we may need two different strategies to design for happiness [11]:

1) design for the pleasurable life/hedonism
the design of products that become direct sources of pleasure by creating pleasurable experiences rooted in human values and evidently pleasurable activities.

2) design for the good life/eudaimonia
the design of products that represent meaningful, but maybe non-obvious goals and help people attaining those goals.

Conclusion: Design can contribute to happiness by creating positive experiences (the pleasurable life/hedonism), but also by stimulating people’s awareness of their abilities to increase their happiness (the good life/eudaimonia). According to Desmet and Hassenzahl, products that create or mediate positive experiences can even rescript existing experiences to be more pleasurable. Products that increase one’s awareness, on the other hand, will challenge or inspire its user to act or think in a different, bus assumingly better way. [12]

Sources

[1] King, L.A., & Broyles, S.J. (1997). Wishes, gender, personality, and well-being. Journal of Personality, 65, 49-76.

[2] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[3] Larsen, R.J., & Eid, M. (2008). Ed Diener and the science of subjective well- being. In: M. Eid, & R.J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 1-16). New York: The Guilford Press.

[4] [5] [6]Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[7] Diener, E., & Suh, E.M. (1999). National differences in subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 434-450). New York: Sage.

[8] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[9] Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psy- chology progress. Empirical validation of interventions. American Psycholo- gist, 60, 410-421.

[10] [11] [12]Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Possibility Driven Design

When searching for articles about joyful and positive design I came across the article “Towards Happiness: Possibility-Driven Design” by Pieter Desmet and Marc Hassenzahl. [1] Possibility-driven design acts as an alternative to the common problem-driven approach. Throughout their research, Desmet and Hassenzahl hope to lay ground for an approach to design, which draws upon happiness to motivate the design of future technologies.

“This will help establishing a culture of humane innovation, which understands technology as a possibility to improve life directly.”—Desmet & Hassenzahl.

From problems to possibilities [2]

Today, design techniques mostly favour a problem-driven approach, where design acts as an activity focused on removing problems (i.e., to make something easier, cleaner, cheaper, safer or smaller). The goal: to make the world a better place through solving its problems—instead of focusing on what makes us happy. Desmet describes problem-driven design as the mere attempt to “keep the demons asleep.” Which means, that problem-driven design primarily is about avoiding, solving, or neutralizing the negative, the moment it arises—removing prevailing problems. But, removing the negative must not necessarily generate a positive experience. It only guarantees the transition from a negative state to a neutral state. But, to generate a positive state from neutral may requires more than a problem-driven approach. For example, there is a difference between facilitating well-being indirectly through a more functional kitchen and the direct joy from a family gathering that takes place in that kitchen. Therefore, Desmet and Hassenzahl propose a possibility rather than problem-driven approach to design, to unlock its full potential of contributing to human flourishing.

They mentioned an example regarding leg prosthetics. “Instead of understanding the absence of legs as primarily a problem to be solved, the designers used a seemingly problematic situation as a possibility to explore material and technology to create a new type of leg. For a while, these legs where even considered better than natural one’s, which led to Pistorius being ruled ineligible for competitions, including the 2008 Summer Olympics – a decision reversed later.”— Desmet & Hassenzahl.

Although the FlexFoot successfully turned a problem into a possibility, it is still very much rooted in an anomaly—the absence of legs

That perfectly states, that a possibility driven design approach strives for more—the goal is to design products without referring to a problem, but still rooted in human practice and needs.

Another example from another industry—the game and entertainment industries—is Bandai’s Tamagotchi.

Tamagotchi—a little creature, which hatches from an egg when switching on the device for the first time. From then on, one must raise the Tamagotchi, feed it, play games with it, keep it healthy, clean it, punish and praise it. If left unattended, it will soon die.

The Tamagotchi was a cult in the mid 90ties of the last century, with an ongoing revival since 2004. The games concept inspired a range of games following the same basic principle, from Will Wright’s Sims published in 2000 to Sony’s recent EyePets. The Tamagotchi does not necessarily solve a problem, but appeals to the basic psychological need of relatedness and the associated interest in nurturing, care, and enjoyment created by taking on responsibility. Desmet & Hassenzahl compare it to the similarity of the enjoyment from having pets or from indulging in recreational gardening. Therefore, according to Desmet & Hassenzahl, a Tamagotchi is a possibility of fulfilling an everpresent need.

Even though, the Tamagotchi’s can be seen as a solution to the problem of “loneliness”. So, possibility driven design can also be seen as solving a problem on a more abstract level. However, Desmet & Hassenzahl disagree. “Relatedness, the need primarily addressed by the Tamagotchi, is sufficient and meaningful in itself. A technology that addresses relatedness will be, thus, meaningful, too. Now there are plenty of ways to satisfy relatedness, some more viable for certain people than others. As a result, people may prefer plants over pets or virtual pets over real ones. Or just have all the alternatives side by side. In other words, pets do not primarily solve a problem. It is just enjoyable to have them because they address important human needs […] TheTamagotchi is not a solution but a new way to craft technology to create a mean- ingful, fulfilling experience. Just for the sake of it.”—Desmet & Hassenzahl

There is an increasing interest in a possibility-driven approach to design, both with a focus on the pleasurable life and the good life. This interest is reflected in a broad focus on pleasure and enjoyment aka (positive) emotions as a design goal. All these new experimental design approaches primarily address humans, their experiences, joys and misfortunes and emphasize possibilities for new ways of happiness rather than the removal of problems.

Sources

[1] Desmet, Pieter / Hassenzahl, Marc: Towards Happiness. Possibility-Driven Design. Delft University of Technology 2012. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233850646

[2] ebda.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Experimental Phase

My last blogposts, to a big part, were about product attachment and symbolic meaning. Symbolic meaning turned out to be an important factor when it comes to designing meaningful and joyful design experiences, which can lead to product attachment and therefore prolonged product life cycles. In my first phase of experimentation I want to step away from theoretical research. The goal is to see if this theoretical knowledge reflects in “real cases” and to recognize further characteristics and/or differences in perception and classification of joyful design.

Goal: Find characteristics and/or differences in perception of a joyful object.

Method: Survey

Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9bs06weEihFmH5nQdUv-5maDB3wymeLUoHY63TRp4ITTABw/viewform?usp=sf_link

In the first phase I want to hand out a questionnaire in a face-to-face interview, to a selected group of people. The questionnaire treats questions around perception of joy and emotions.

In the second phase the selected group of people will be asked to choose an object that is of most importance for them and one object that made them especially happy. In addition they will be asked why they choose the objects and which story and emotions they evoke.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Speaking of an extended product life cycle through joyful design in my last blogposts, we come to another important aspect that can enhance a products life: designing for prolonged pleasure.

The research paper “Enjoying Joy: A Process-Based Approach to Design for Prolonged Pleasure” by Anna E. Pohlmeyer deals on how to sustain and optimize positive emotions derived from a positive experience.

It is a fact that initial emotions fade over time because people eventually adapt to changes. This phenomenon of reduced affective intensity is called hedonic adaptation. Hedonic adaption can lead people to constantly desire something new without reaching lasting satisfaction—which is a huge problem of our “throw-away-society”. 

Design for savoring
According to Pohlmeyer there is an approach of designing joyful experiences called “design for savoring”. Design for savoring is not only about providing pleasurable experiences, but it is also about optimizing these by appreciating the enjoyment. As a result, positive emotions of a given positive event can be increased in intensity and duration. Pohlmeyer also stated that savoring positive experiences can be understood as the counterpart of coping with negative experiences. However, design for savoring is less a matter of how experiences are designed, but rather of how a person deals with the resulting emotional experience. Savoring up-regulates positive emotions in order to extract an optimum level of positive emotions from an event and has been shown to counteract hedonic adaptation—the tendency of us mere humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness—and contribute to people’s well-being. Therefore, design for savoring, especially is a promising concept to consider in UX. [1]

Intensifying and Prolonging Positive Emotional Experiences through Design
Speaking of design for savoring, the question on what can be done to intensify positive emotional experiences raises. According to Nélies [2] there are four broad categories of savoring strategies:

a) behavioral display of positive emotions
b) focusing attention on the present moment
c) capitalizing, i.e. sharing with others,
d) positive mental time travel, i.e. vividly anticipating or remembering positive events.

These thoughts and behaviors have been shown to favorably affect the intensity and duration of positive feelings, which means that they can serve as valuable guides in design.

“Similarly, reliving an experience and the associated emotions in memory – be it a nostalgic recollection of the good old days or realizing what a loyal companion one’s laptop has been – reinforces pleasure efficiently and effectively. In this vein, it is also noteworthy to mention that positive emotional experiences can be enhanced not only in the moment but also in prospect and retrospect, e.g. by sharing with others. Hence, by looking into the underlying processes of experiencing pleasure, opportunities arise to proactively design for longer-term and enhanced positive experiences.” —Pohlmeyer

It is obvious that how we look at and interpret our world, hence, what we devote our attention to, affects our experiences and our well-being. When designing for joyful experiences it is therefore crucial to direct attention to the positive and to consider how positive emotions can be prolonged by increasing the intensity and duration of pleasure derived from positive experiences, rather than striving for a fast-paced consumption behavior of constant novelty seeking. [3]

Sources

[1] Nélis, D., Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., and Mikolajczak, M. Measuring individual differences in emotion regulation: The Emotion Regulation Profile- Revised (ERP-R). Psychologica Belgica, 51 (2011), 49- 91.

[2] Pohlmeyer, Anna E.: Enjoying Joy. A Process-Based Approach to Design for Prolonged Pleasure. Helsinki. 2014

[3] ebda.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Which qualities stimulate product attachment—what brings us to like/enjoy a product more than others?

Identity Based Human Behavior

Understanding ones own identity—who one is and what one believes—is a fundamental human drive. That fact points out that consumers like products, brands and consumption behaviors that are linked to self-association. That simply means for example that someone who sees oneself as an athlete will likely behave in ways that correspond to what it means to “be” an athlete. [1] That concept also is established in all forms of marketing and communication. An example from my previous research that uses this knowledge of the importance of self-association is the Branding Wheel of 12 Archetypes. [2] Another concept that includes that aspect in regards to design is the Positive Design Framework, which consists of three layers: design for pleasure design for virtue and design for personal significance. [3] Also, the aspect of self-association is deeply linked to objects with symbolic meaning, which is one of the most important characteristics when it comes to product attachment and happiness. [4]

“If a product symbolizes aspects of a person’s happiness, he/she is more likely to keep it, because losing the product implies that the strong symbolic meaning and thus the ‘happiness trigger’ is lost.” —Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton

At the time ones identity becomes central to self-conception, one starts to pay attention to many secondary associations to ones self-conception [5]. For example, individuals may integrate attitudinal and behavioral norms, emotion profiles [6], and a variety of other identity-linked concepts in memory [7]. All this together defines normative beliefs, attitudes, emotions and behaviors that define what one thinks, feels, and does. [8]

An interesting fact from the research paper “Identity-based consumer behavior” by Americus Reed, Stefano Puntoni, Mark Forehand and Luk Warlop is that language directly is linked to our perception of identity. Thus, depending on the language that we use, our identity/character changes. That is, because people do not have one identity*, but we indeed carry multiple layers of identity in us that can be triggered. One interesting finding was that English as a language often serves as a cue for a person’s cosmopolitan identity. That knowledge gets especially used in marketing, where products often get labeled in English language to consciously create an image of open-mindedness. [9]

The knowledge of importance of identity and self conception enables us to design relevant products for certain groups of individuals on a rough level. But let us take a deeper look to which identity-related information allows discrimination between options. Which means that, as mentioned in the beginning, an “athlete identity” helps to discriminate between a pair of Nike shoes and a pair of Crocs. But if we want to discriminate between a pair of Nikes or Adidas shoes it gets harder. According to the research paper “Identity-Based Consumer Behavior” there are five forms of relevance that influence these criteria and decision: object relevance, symbolic relevance, goal relevance, action relevance and evaluation relevance. [10]

1 Object relevance
Object relevance exists when an object is part of the symbolic constellation of products that define an identity. [11] [12] An example is a working mother that may be more favorable to an automobile that emphasizes safety and practicality. Object relevance is particularly common with brands that come to symbolize paricular user groups or “fit” with a particular identity.

2 Symbolic relevance
Symbolic relevance exists when the expression of a belief or the possession of an object communicates or reinforces one’s identity in the eyes of others. [13] That is because people likely judge about others based on their knowledge of other people’s purchase decisions. Therefore, products provide a “social stock of knowledge that people use in typifying those they meet”. [14] This general concept of symbolic congruence has been used to explain consumer attraction to products, brands and retail environments. [15] [16]

3 Goal relevance
Goal relevance exists when a potential belief or behavior is related to an issue or outcome that is important to the individual’s identity. These beliefs or behaviors could include the expression of an attitude, specific group-related behaviors, or simply affiliation with a product or brand.

4 action relevance
Action-relevant objects and behaviors allow the consumer to perform behavioral functions associated with a particular identity. For example, a “baseball player” may require a bat, glove and cleats to perform within that identity. [17]

  • 1 Object relevance
  • 2 Symbolic relevance
  • 3 Goal relevance
  • 4 action relevance

5 evaluation relevance
Evaluation relevance refers to the extent to which the evaluative content of the identity has sufficient clarity and specificity to inform the consumer’s evaluation of the object (or brand). The goal is to guide a behavioral response. An example is an “urban teenager” who evaluates shoe brands, and finds several brands that have co-opted young, urban imagery in their advertising and are thus not differentiable on this identity dimension. In this situation, the absence of a clear identity-related norm provides her with an inadequate basis for choice [18], and thus her identity therefore fails to discriminate between the available options.


By working with those five layers, relevant, identity-based design can be derived. That can not only lead to a joyful design experience but furthermore can enhance product life cycles and therefore support efforts of a more sustainable relation to products.

*
The identity conflict principle
Any given identity is not possessed in isolation—each identity is one of many held identities that must be integrated into a person’s overall self-conception. Research on the interplay of multiple identities generally suggests that individuals seek to maintain harmony between their various identities. [19] [20] Finally, because people may hold multiple iden- tities, while each of the identities is not always consistent with all the others in its implications, identities may conflict. This in turn will moti- vate cognitive activity and behavior that aim to resolve such conflict (the conflict principle) either by active attempts to create a harmonized personal identity or by compartmentalizing identities into separable partitions of one’s life experience.

The identity-verification principle
Consumers will actively monitor the extent to which they stay true to their manifested identity. This “sought-after identity” operates similarly to an “ideal” self [21]. Higgins argued that as the perceived distance between a consumer’s actual and ideal selves increases, the consumer’s motivation to exert effort to reach the ideal also increases. People are motivated to behave consistently with their identities, which become the subject of goal striving and will drive corrective action or thought whenever the identity is at stake.

The relevance principle
Once an identity is adopted, the surrounding environment and the people and objects in it are evaluated for their relevance with respect to the identity, and a person will think, feel and behave consistently with the identity whenever it is deemed relevant in that situation.

Sources

[1] Reed, Americus / Puntoni, Stefano / Forehand, Mark / Warlop, Luk: International Journal of Research in Marketing. Identity-Based Consumer Behavior: 2012, S. 310—321

[2]  Medium. 12 Brand Archetypes You Can Use to Effectively Position Your Brand. URL: https://medium.com/better-marketing/12-brand-archetypes-you-can-use-to-effectively-position-your-brand-75e0bce0adc6

[3] Delft Institute of Positive Design: Positive Design Reference Guide: 2015. URL: https://issuu.com/delftinstituteofpositivedesign/docs/issuu

[4] Mugge, R., Schoormans, J. P. L., & Schifferstein, H. N. J. (2008). Product attachment: Design strategies to stimulate the emotional bonding to products. In H. N. J. Schifferstein & P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience (pp. 425-440). Amsterdam, the Netherland: Elsevier.

[5] Oyserman, D. (2009). Identity-based motivation: Implications for action-readiness, procedural readiness, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19, 250–260.

[6] Verrochi-Coleman, N. M., & Williams, P. (2012). Feeling like myself: Emotion regulation and social identity. Working paper.

[7] Mercurio, K., & Forehand, M. (2011). An interpretive frame model of identity dependent learning: The moderating role of content–identity association. Journal of Consumer Research, 38, 555–577.

[8] Reed, Americus / Puntoni, Stefano / Forehand, Mark / Warlop, Luk: International Journal of Research in Marketing. Identity-Based Consumer Behavior: 2012, S. 310—321

[9] ebda.

[10] ebda.

[11] Kleine, R. E., Kleine, S. S., & Kernan, J. B. (1993). Mundane consumption and the self: A social identity perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2, 209–235.

[12] Reed, A., II (2004). Activating the self-importance of consumer selves: Exploring identity salience effects on judgments. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 286–295.

[13] Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15, 139–168.

[14] Shavitt, S., & Nelson, M. R. (2000). The social-identity function in person perception: Communicated meanings of product preferences. In G. Maio, & J. M. Olson (Eds.), Why we evaluate: Functions of attitudes (pp. 37–57). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

[15] Malhotra, N. K. (1988). Self-concept and product choice: An integrated perspective. Journal of Economic Psychology, 9, 1–28.

[16] Sirgy, J. M., Grewal, D., & Mangleburg, T. (2000). Retail environment, self-congruity, and retail patronage: An integrative model and a research agenda. Journal of Busi- ness Research, 49, 127–138.

[17] Kleine, R. E., Kleine, S. S., & Kernan, J. B. (1993). Mundane consumption and the self: A social identity perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2, 209–235.

[18] Kallgren, C. A., Reno, R. R., & Cialdini, R. B. (2000). A focus theory of normative conduct: When norms do and do not affect behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1002–1012.

[19] Amiot, C. E., de la Sablonnière, R., Terry, D. J., & Smith, J. R. (2007). Integration of social identities in the self: Toward a cognitive-developmental model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 364–388.

[20] Roccas, S., & Brewer, M. (2002). Social identity complexity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 88–106.

[21] Higgins, E. T. (1986). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94, 319–340.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Symbolic Meaning

As mentioned in my last blog post, symbolic meaning acts as one of the most important attributes of product attachment and can be considered as an important factor for positive design. For a better understanding I wanted to do further research on the term of symbolic meaning, outlined in the following text.

Symbolic meaning refers to the image and the associations that spring to mind in regard to a specific object/product. Objects can then act as symbols, providing personal meaning as well as communicating (the owner’s) personal characteristics to others. Those meaning that we attach to objects directly influence how we feel about objects and how we assess them. Researches developed various terms to describe this phenomenon of symbolic meaning, including meaning [1], personal meaning [2], symbolic meaning [3], product meaning [4], linking value [5] and symbolic qualities associated with products. [6]

Symbolic Meaning and User Experience

However, symbolic meaning has many dimensions and another concept strongly related with symbolic meaning is the user experience—user experience refers to the user’s perceptions and responses in regard to their interaction with a system or product (ISO 9241-110, 2010). That comes, because symbolic meanings and associations—dependent on personal interpretation—with a product seem to be an integral part of how users experience a product. Therefore the practice of user experience design has evolved to take into account more experiential aspects of user-product interaction, such as emotions, feelings and meanings. Nowadays many researchers agree that symbolic meaning acts as an important dimension of user experience.[7] Desmet and Heckert identify three levels of product experience [8]:

1) aesthetic pleasure
2) attribution of meaning
happens through cognitive processes such as interpretation, memory retrieval and associations
3) emotional response

Desmet and Heckert state that meaning is related to the personal or symbolic significance of products or the possibility of assigning them personality or other expressive. As an example they mention a Chinese teacup that one of the authors is attached to because it represents his visit to China.

Hassenzahl on the other hand does not explicitly mention symbolic meaning as a component of user experience, but he describes aspects that are closely related. He categorizes the hedonic aspect of user experience as including [9]:
1) stimulation—personal growth, an increase or knowledge and skills
2) identification—self-expression, interaction with relevant others
3) evocation—self-maintenance, memories

Especially identification as well as other hedonic aspects can be seen as part of symbolic meanings.

Symbolic Meaning and Appearance

Symbolic meaning can also be related to a product’s form, appearance and use—that is especially the case in literature linked to Industrial Design. Product semantics there get related to a concern for the cognitive meanings, symbolic functions and cultural histories of form. [10]

Van Rompay gives an overview of studies regarding the relationships between a product’s formal features and symbolic meaning. In his example the rounded form of an object is generally perceived as being secure or emotional. Van Rompay’s conclusion is that meaning is not a fixed property of the world or mind, but results from interactions between individual and environment. One of his studies shows that forms connote different symbolic meanings across cultures. [11]

Symbolic Meaning / Product Meaning and Product Attachment

Product attachment gets best represented by products that have some profound and sustained meaning for users [12]. Already in 1923, Ogden and Richards defined product meaning as the relationship between mind, object and world. Product meaning is generally seen as subjective, suffused with affectivity and usually either utilitarian or symbolic. It has also been stated that a group of individuals have a tendency to make similar inferences about a product, suggesting that symbolic meaning is culturally shared. Symbols are formed by cultural principles, which can be:
— norms
— values
— social categories

Sari Kujala states as example the American flag—the flag may symbolizes freedom or conservative American. [13]

In psychological and sociological literature it gets stated that individuals pay attention to object symbolism mainly because they want to express, maintain or enhance their self-concept—their identity and ideal image of themself. Sociological literature also gives examples of how symbolic meaning has been used to compensate for low self-esteem. [14] Zimmerman adds to sychological and sociological literature that people use products as self-extension—those product then act as an essential part of identity construction for a development of a coherent life story. [15] Mugge adds that people tend to develop a stronger attachment to products where they use them to express and maintain a unique personal identity. [16] In addition to identity, Allen shows by his survey studies that to some extent users form product preferences by evaluating whether their values are represented in product meanings. [17]

Symbolic Meaning and Postmodernity

In ethnosociology a new concept of thinking characterizing postmodernity constituted. Cova states that to satisfy their desire for community, modern individuals seek products and services less for their use value than for their linking value. Linking value results when a product facilitates and supports communion by providing a site, an emblem, the support for integration or recognition, and so forth. Cova states that “the postmodern individual can build an identity for themself with cultural symbols and all possible references (such as plays, exhibitions, films, and books, etc.). Linking value refers to product properties that cause users to experience a feeling of communion.[18] The same idea is presented in the consumer research literature. For example, Belk argues that identity is important not only on an individual level, but also on a collective level involving family group, subcultural and national identities. [19]

“[…] the literature of industrial design suggests that symbolic meaning can arise through memory retrieval and associations (Desmet & Hekkert, 2007) and seems to be one of the determinants of product attachment (Mugge et al., 2008; Schifferstein & Zwartkruis-Pelgrim, 2008). Consumer behavior research shows that symbolic meaning is important to users mainly because they want to maintain, enhance and express their identity and ideal image of themselves. It has been shown that symbolic meaning arises when products support user values (Allen, 2006). The sociological literature suggests that the goal can also be a feeling of communion (Cova, 1997).” —Kujala, S. / Nurkka, P.

Considering all the different definitions and fields of research there are various views of the concept of symbolic meaning. Symbolic meaning—one of the most important attributes of product attachment, especially happiness related symbolic meaning—is something intangible and subjective, but also culturally shared.

Summary of the identified factors of symbolic meaning and the relationship of symbolic meaning to product experience as presented by Desmet and Hekkert (2007). The identified factors overlap, but they describe the nature of phenomenon. [20]


Sources

[1] Crilly, N., Good, D., Matravers, D., & Clarkson, P. J. (2008). Design as communication: Exploring the validity and utility of relating intention to interpretation. Design Studies, 29(5), 425-457.

[2] Cupchik, G. C., & Hilscher, M. C. (2008). Holistic perspectives on the design of experience. In H. N. J. Schifferstein & P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience (pp. 241-256). Amsterdam, the Netherland: Elsevier.

[3] Desmet, P., & Hekkert, P. (2007). Framework for product experience. International Journal of Design, 1(1), 57-66.

[4] Allen, M. W. (2002). Human values and product symbolism: Do consumers form product preference by comparing the human values symbolized by a product to the human values that they endorse? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(12), 2475-2501

[5] Cova, B. (1997). Community and consumption, towards a definition of the “linking value” of product or services. European Journal of Marketing,31(3/4), 297-316.

[6] Kujala, S. / Nurkka, P. (2012). Sentence Completion for Evaluating Symbolic Meanin. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286834130_Sentence_Completion_for_Evaluating_Symbolic_Meaning

[7] ebda.

[8] Desmet, P., & Hekkert, P. (2007). Framework for product experience. International Journal of Design, 1(1), 57-66.

[9] Hassenzahl, M. (2003). The thing and I: Understanding therelationship between user and product. In M. Blythe, C. Overbeeke, A. F. Monk, & P. C. Wright (Eds.), Funology: From usability to enjoyment (pp. 31-42). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic.

[10] Kujala, S. / Nurkka, P. (2012). Sentence Completion for Evaluating Symbolic Meanin. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286834130_Sentence_Completion_for_Evaluating_Symbolic_Meaning

[11] van Rompay, T. J. L. (2008). Product expression: Bridging the gap between the symbolic and the concrete. In H. N. J. Schifferstein & P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience (pp. 333-351). Amsterdam, the Netherland: Elsevier.

[12] Mugge, R., Schoormans, J. P. L., & Schifferstein, H. N. J. (2008). Product attachment: Design strategies to stimulate the emotional bonding to products. In H. N. J. Schifferstein & P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience (pp. 425-440). Amsterdam, the Netherland: Elsevier.

[13] Kujala, S. / Nurkka, P. (2012). Sentence Completion for Evaluating Symbolic Meanin. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286834130_Sentence_Completion_for_Evaluating_Symbolic_Meaning

[14] Allen, M. W. (2002). Human values and product symbolism: Do consumers form product preference by comparing the human values symbolized by a product to the human values that they endorse? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(12), 2475-2501.

[15] Zimmerman, J. (2009). Designing for the self: Making products that help people become the person they desire to be. In Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 395-404). New York, NY: ACM.

[16] Mugge, R., Schoormans, J. P. L., & Schifferstein, H. N. J. (2008). Product attachment: Design strategies to stimulate the emotional bonding to products. In H. N. J. Schifferstein & P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience (pp. 425-440). Amsterdam, the Netherland: Elsevier.

[17] Allen, M. W. (2002). Human values and product symbolism: Do consumers form product preference by comparing the human values symbolized by a product to the human values that they endorse? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32(12), 2475-2501

[18] Cova, B. (1997). Community and consumption, towards a definition of the “linking value” of product or services. European Journal of Marketing,31(3/4), 297-316.

[19] Belk, R. W. (1988). Possessions and the extended self. Journal of Consumer Research, 15(2), 139-168.

[20] Kujala, S. / Nurkka, P. (2012). Sentence Completion for Evaluating Symbolic Meanin. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286834130_Sentence_Completion_for_Evaluating_Symbolic_Meaning

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Expanding product life cycles by Joyful Design

As a consequence of our throwaway society products often get discarded even if they are still fully working. Joyful Design may be a practice to counteract by stimulating a more enduring product-owner relationship.

A study of Dept. of Ind. Des. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, NL. and Dept. of Prod. Innov. Mang. Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, NL analyzed the possibility of expanding product life cycles by design. [1]

One of the most important attributes of product attachment was found to be symbolic meaning. This important insight served as the base for the research, which focuses specifically on happiness-related symbolic meaning. It is simples as that: “If a product symbolizes aspects of a person’s happiness, he/she is more likely to keep it, because losing the product implies that the strong symbolic meaning and thus the ‘happiness trigger’ is lost.” (Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, 1981; Belk, 1988) [2]. Therefore, the study was based on a framework with six types of symbolic product meanings (based on Ryff’s (1989) model of psychological well-being) [3]: positive relations with others, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and self- acceptance. Those directions should act as a source of inspiration for designing long-term meaningful product-owner relationships by creating relevance and value for users.

1) symbolic meaning of positive relations with others
possessions that represent meaningful affiliations which provide a sense of belongingness

— support meaningful affiliations
example: facilitating the practice of specific belongingness activities

— embody characteristics of a group
example: using unique characteristics of users

2) symbolic meaning of personal growth
possessions that symbolize transitions, acceptance of past experiences, and continued self-development

— support active personal development
example: providing a platform for active reflection on lessons learned and future expectations

— embody personal growth
example: provide an adaptable design that can accommodate physical and psychological change

— support acceptance and growth from past experiences
—enhance memories
example: offering a positive context or activity to reflect on memories

3) symbolic meaning of purpose in life
possessions that symbolize the individual’s goals and aspirations in life

—encourage positive change
example: providing a external trigger that suggests beneficial activities or behaviours

—provide a sense of control
example: allowing users to manage progress towards personally significant goals, or to eliminate or mitigate obstacles that threaten their fulfilment

—keep track of progress
example: providing visual feedback to keep track of progress towards personally significant goals

4) symbolic meaning of environmental mastery
possessions that symbolize the individual’s ability to master his/her context and build beneficial networks

—improve multi-sensorial communication
example: Improving communication mediums by translating a message into a sensorial experience, for example by simulating intimate physical behaviours

—provide a context for meaningful interaction
example: Facilitating interaction by making use of the context, or props as an advantage

5) symbolic meaning of autonomy
possessions that symbolize particular ways of living and life choices

—destigmatize
example: Focusing on and enhancing the aesthetic qualities of physically enabling products

—Design for mindfulness
example: Slowing down processes or disclosing the mechanisms behind how products work to promote a mindful living

—redirect the user’s attention
example: Designing a product that actively requires attention from the user to mitigate or distract from negative situations

6) the symbolic meaning of self-acceptance
possessions that symbolize the positive aspects of the individual, promoting a positive self-image

—allow shared transformation
example: Providing tools for user input at aesthetic and functional level, in a permanent or temporary way.

—allow self-expression
example: Providing a tangible platform to wear, share, or display aspects of identity, personally significant ideas, principles, relationships, etc.

  • symbolic meaning of positive relations
  • symbolic meaning of personal growth
  • symbolic meaning of purpose in life
  • symbolic meaning of environmental mastery
  • symbolic meaning of autonomy
  • symbolic meaning of self-acceptance

Several publications on the topic of emotional durability have explored the role of symbolic meaning in fostering durable user-product relationships (e.g., Chapman, 2005; van Nes & Cramer, 2005) [4]. While offering an important and novel perspective on durability, these explorations have not yet resulted in practical directions that support designers in their attempts to design emotionally durable products. The set of design directions is rather intended as exploratory than normative, ideally offering inspiration by displaying a diversity of opportunities to design with symbolic meaning.

However according to the study a product’s inability to respond to the user’s evolving aspirations (e.g., for technological or aesthetical upgradability) can promote premature discarding, but ultimately, the ending of a product’s life is a consumer decision. The challenge resides, therefore, in designing products that support durable user-product relationships (van Nes, 2010) [5] by focusing on durability of meaning and value (Chapman, 2005).

Sources:
[1]Extending product life by introducing symbolic meaning: an exploration of design strategies to support subjective well-being. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281119272_Extending_product_life_by_introducing_symbolic_meaning_an_exploration_of_design_strategies_to_support_subjective_well-being?enrichId=rgreq-33f579a37ee576710a6f476dd27eeece-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzI4MTExOTI3MjtBUzoyNjQ5MjM2MjQyNDMyMDJAMTQ0MDE3NDEyMjYyMA==&el=1_x_3&_esc=publicationCoverPdf

[2] Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper and Row.

[3] Ryff, C. (1989). Beyond Ponce de Leon: New directions in quest of successful ageing. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12(1), 35-55.

[4] Chapman, J. (2005). Emotionally durable design: Objects, experiences and empathy. London: Earthscan.

[5] van Nes, N. (2010). Understanding replacement behaviour and exploring design solutions, In T. Cooper (ed.), Longer lasting products. Surry: Gower Publishing.

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Positive Design

Some of the following design cases focus on individuals, others on groups. Some help us to rediscover our talents, some support us in forming meaningful relationships, and others enable us to invest in the happiness of ourselves and of the people we care about.

Little Proba [1]

Little Proba is an initiative created to empower children’s creativity and help kids in need. The project emerged from Studio Probas first creative workshop for Portland and NYC kids, in which kids were guided through the process of making colorful, cut-out paper collages.

“The results were so inspiring, that we transformed them into rugs with all proceeds going to Save the Children and the Young Center for Children’s Immigrant Rights. This first collaboration is just one in a long-term series of philanthropic initiatives we’ve planned to foster creativity in children and, in turn, help those in need across the globe—a process we like to refer to as #kidsdesigningforkids.” —Studio Proba

Goedzak [2]

Goedzag is a way to do good and offer products a second chance—sharing and re-use as easy as taking out the trash. The concept is currently used as a pilot-project in Amsterdam and Eindhoven.

How much do we actually use of the stuff that we own and how much do we really actually need? We all hold on to many material things we no longer use. But what is even worse is, that we sometimes throw away things that are still in perfect and working condition. From a sustainability point of view unwanted goods should be re-used as much as possible. From a social point of view, these items offer an enormous potential for positive social behaviour; sharing. 

Designer Simon Akkaya dealt in the development process with questions such as: Is it possible to design a product that brings out and stimulates a positive human behaviour? And to make things a bit more complex;  is this possible when this particular behaviour does not serve the user’s direct needs. In this case; altruism. Understanding the principles and mechanics of a specific human trait is essential when translating these abstract values into tangible form. This specific project was deliberately pushing the envelope by setting a very abstract goal, without setting a defined domain for the product at the start.

How it works:

Basically, Goedzak is a carrier of a sustainable message: It offers a visual stage to social deeds by “lightening up” the streets with bright yellow bags. Goedzak should encourage individuals to take their time and make an effort to fill up a bag with things which otherwise would be simply thrown away.

Goedzakken (the bags) are distributed in a specific area. With the bag people also receive information and an explanation on how to use Goedzak. People can then fill up the bag and place it outside on the pavement, no different from taking out the trash. The bright yellow colour will attract attention, while the transparent side of the bag will reveal the content without the need for rummaging through the bag. Passers-by can then take from the bag anything to their liking. The remainder of the goods are at the end of the day collected by the second hand store (or service from the city) to be either sold or recycled. Goedzak creates a new waste-stream that precedes recycling and eventually discarding, keeping the integrity of the products in tact an maximising the lifecycle. Goedzak allows you to fill up a bag and place it in a designated spot; this can be anywhere from a local mall, to the pavement in front of your house. Others (neighbours, passers-by) can take whatever they find valuable from the Goedzak.

Hospital Facilities [3]

According to latest research music, humor, light, and scent have the power to decrease pain or influence medical outcomes—especially nature has a huge impact on healing. A finding that dates back to Roger Ulrich’s seminal study of post-surgical gall bladder patients. The research found that people who had a green view out their window were able to leave the hospital sooner and required less pain medication than those facing a brick wall. According to latest research even natural sounds (birds, etc.) may have an influence on pain.

Inspired by that latest findings the university of Oslo hospital, designed by Snøhetta, built an exclusive Outdoor Care Retreat, which can be booked by patients. The retreat has been designed to mimic a tree house and allows to full open windows for fresh air and a “being on holiday” experience.

Another issue in hospitals is a downbeat color scheme—which has especially a bad influence on children’s wellbeing. Children’s bedrooms at home are usually bright and colorful and by considering that fact in design of hospital facilities, a patients room can feel more “normal” and support wellbeing and therefore an individuals healing process.

Sources:

[1] https://www.studioproba.com/studio
[2] https://www.waarmakers.nl/projects
[3] https://aestheticsofjoy.com/2019/03/22/imagining-a-more-joyful-childrens-hospital/

by Kristina Reischl -

Joyful Design

Positive Design

How can design contribute to the field of positive psychology? How can we consciously and deliberately use design skills in contributing to the happiness of individuals and communities?

Positive design deals with answering those questions and focuses on research and development of solutions that increase people’s subjective well-being and thus happiness. The goal is to stimulate and enhance positive emotions and reduce negative ones. [1]

Happiness drives people to flourish—according to a research the performance of happy people can increase up to 12% whilst maintaining quality of work, but on the other hand performance can also lose up to 10% when people are unhappy. Therefore, that finding not only takes an important part when it comes to employee’s happiness and thus on productivity—subjective well-being plays a significant role in performance. And, of course, consumers are likely to value offered solutions/products better when they are happier, and vice versa when they are unhappy. Positive design is based on design theory and psychology. The latter is the science that focuses on understanding what makes people happy and what makes them flourish. Research has found that happiness is determined by three factors, and that two of these three determinants are possible to design for. [2]

Positive Design Framework [3]

Positive design enhances positive emotions and reduces negative ones. That can be achieved by engaging personal character strengths and weaknesses, and by taking on evidence-based opportunities and threats as measures for a scientific design approach rather than a single designer’s perception. It is about providing solutions that helps people satisfy their growth-needs whilst taking into account their deficiency-needs. The Positive Design framework offers an overview of possible design applications for happiness, consisting of 3 layers that can be designed:


Design for Pleasure
Here, the focus is on happiness, achieved by a person’s pleasures and derived from enhanced positive feelings or decreased negative feelings. There are four types of pleasures: physical, social, psychological, and ideological.

Design for Personal Significance
Design for Personal Significance is about personal goals and aspirations. A positive affect can also be gained from achieving and remembering goals and getting a sense of accomplishment from certain behaviors. The focus clearly is on an individual’s interpretation of what makes life worth living and having the freedom in doing so.

Design for Virtue
Virtuous behavior is about what is perceived as good and what is perceived as bad. “It is based on the proposition that there is an ideal mode of behavior, or a sense of excellence or perfection towards which one should strive, that leads to a virtuous life.” Correct translation of believes and values into design processes can be beneficial to people’s happiness.

Positive Design Ingredients [4]

Besides the above-mentioned framework in which one can apply positive strategic design, there is a set of ingredients of which the effect on someone’s happiness is proven to be successful. These ingredients are derived from research in positive psychology and act as important rules of thumb to incorporate in design and prevent obstruction.

Positive Emotion
Positive emotion is simply about feeling good. The focus is on gaining positive experiences by satisfying deficiency need to a pleasurable experience and satisfying growth need to an enjoyable experience.

Engagement
Engagement is about the activities an individual is engaging in. If one is acting in full envlolvement, that holistic sensation is called the flow state. The focus clearly is on challenging, fulfilling and interesting activities that captivate people to be fully engaged in the moment. Individual values and preferences have to be considered in this process.

Relationships
There is a causality between social relationships and health, thus that aspect plays an important role. People want are in need of authentic connection and social cohesion and reacquire emotional and physical interaction.

Meaning
Meaning defines understanding and making sense of ones existence and its impact on others—to have a purpose and goal to strive for.

Accomplishments
The positive effect form having goals can be enhanced by achievement of those goals. Interest, ability and perseverance are therefore important factors to consider.

Sources:

[1] https://www.positivestrategicdesign.com/positive-design

[2] https://issuu.com/delftinstituteofpositivedesign/docs/issuu

[3] ebda.

[4] ebda.