Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman Page A

level is sensitive to cultural differences, trends in fashion, and continual fluctuation. Today’s sophistication runs the risk of becoming tomorrow’s discard. Great designs, like great art and literature, can break the rules and survive forever, but only a few are gifted enough to be great.
    At the visceral level, physical features—look, feel, and sound—dominate. Thus, a master chef concentrates on presentation, arranging food artfully on the plate. Here good graphics, cleanliness, and beauty play a role. Make the car door feel firm and produce a pleasant chunking sound as it closes. Make the exhaust sound of the Harley Davidson motorcycle have a unique, powerful rumble. Make the body sleek, sexy, inviting, such as the classic 1961 Jaguar roadster of figure 3.2 . Yes, we love sensuous curves, sleek surfaces, and solid, sturdy objects.

    FIGURE 3.2
    The 1961 Jaguar E-type: Viscerally exciting.
    This automobile is a classic example of the power of visceral design: sleek, elegant, exciting. It is no surprise that the car is in the design collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art.
    (Courtesy of the Ford Motor Corporation.)
    Because visceral design is about initial reactions, it can be studied quite simply by putting people in front of a design and waiting for reactions. In the best of circumstances, the visceral reaction to appearance works so well that people take one look and say “I want it.” Then they might ask, “What does it do?” And last, “And how much does it cost?” This is the reaction the visceral designer strives for, and it can work. Much of traditional market research involves this aspect of design.
    Apple Computer found that when it introduced the colorful iMac computer, sales boomed, even though those fancy cabinets contained the very same hardware and software as Apple’s other models, ones that were not selling particularly well. Automobile designers count on visual design to rescue a company. When Volkswagen reintroduced their classic “beetle” design in 1993, Audi developed the TT, and Chrysler brought out the PT Cruiser, sales for all three companies climbed. It’s all in the appearance.

    FIGURE 3.3
    The sensual component of behavioral design.
    Behavioral design emphasizes the use of objects, in this case, the sensual feel of the shower: a key, often overlooked component of good behavioral design. The Kohler WaterHaven
    Shower.
    (Courtesy of the Kohler Co.)
    Effective visceral design requires the skills of the visual and graphic artist and the industrial engineer. Shape and form matter. The physical feel and texture of the materials matter. Heft matters. Visceral design is all about immediate emotional impact. It has to feel good, look good. Sensuality and sexuality play roles. This is a major role of “point of presence” displays in stores, in brochures, in advertisements, and in other enticements that emphasize appearance. These may be a store’s only chance of getting the customer, for many a product is purchased on looks alone. Similarly, otherwise highly rated products may be turned down if they do not appeal to the aesthetic sense of the potential buyer.

Behavioral Design
    Behavioral design is all about use. Appearance doesn’t really matter. Rationale doesn’t matter. Performance does. This is the aspect of design that practitioners in the usability community focus upon. The
principles of good behavioral design are well known and often told; indeed, I laid them out in my earlier book, The Design of Everyday Things . What matters here are four components of good behavioral design: function, understandability, usability, and physical feel. Sometimes the feel can be the major rationale behind the product. Consider the shower shown in figure 3.3 . Imagine the sensual pleasure, the feel—quite literally—of the water streaming across the body.
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    IN MOST behavioral design, function comes first and