The more you know about people the better experiences your are able to design. The knowledge about human behaviour and psychology is especially important if we want to evoke specific emotions through our designs. \u201e100 things every designer needs to know about people\u201c by Susan M. Weinschenk is the perfect source to get a broad and basic understanding of how people think, decide and behave. The following are three important findings from Susan M. Weinschenk which can be associated with creating joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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“3 facts about design and emotions” <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If people can\u2019t feel, then they can\u2019t decide<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want people to make a decision and take an action, you need to show them information, images, or a video that triggers an emotion \u2013 they will be more likely to decide if they have an emotional experience. So, when designing you need to consider the emotions you\u2019re going to generate as people interact with your product. If the experience of your product is sad \u2013 such as a sad story \u2013 people will be in a sad mood that might affect the next action they take. You especially have to be aware of the facial expression that may change when people use your product. Researches proved that our facial expressions are directly linked to our emotions. If we smile, we feel happy\u2014if we are not able to smile, we can not experience happiness\u2014if our face is paralyzed we are not able to experience emotions, since we are not able to show facial expressions.<\/em> For example, if people have to squish their eyes to be able to read the small font, you used on your product, that will may prevent them from feeling happy, which in turn affects an action you may want them to take. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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People are programmed to enjoy surprises<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want to grab attention, design something that is novel to people. Designing something new \u2013 something unexpected \u2013 can also be pleasurable to people. Our brain scans our environment for anything that could be dangerous and therefore for anything that is novel. A research by Gregory Berns reveals that the human brain not only looks for the unexpected but craves the unexpected. [2]<\/span> Researchers also measured the most activity in the nucleus accumbers, the part of the brain that is active when people experience pleasurable experiences, when something unexpected happens. [3]<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Pastoral scenes make people happy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPastoral Landscape by Alvan Fisher, 1854<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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 \u2013 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 \u2013 regardless where people come from. [4]<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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