The Role of Emotion in UX Design
One of the early standards in the user interface community, ISO 9241, mentions three crucial factors that impact user experience:
1. Effectiveness: Does it do what it’s supposed to do?
2. Efficiency: Does is do so with minimum effort required by the user?
3. Satisfaction: Does it make the user feel good, feel happy?
While some may argue that ‘usability’, and not emotion, has been key in user experience design, the third point in the above standard, i.e. Satisfaction, makes the place of emotion in UX design amply clear. Sure, emotion is all about the human experience, but it also has a telling impact on the bottom line, on the business. Whether its better experiences for employees at work, or customers in the market, the impact of emotion is undeniable even from the business point of view.
“Pay attention to what users do, not what they say.” — Jakob Nielsen
Why is this quote relevant? Because more often than not, if users are not satisfied with the experience, they say nothing, and move on. So, if the function of UX design is to cater to user needs, it is integral to be mindful of, and respond to responses — outcomes that are usually emotionally driven.
The Science of Feelings; And How it can Drive UX
While most users would like to attribute rationality to their decisions, the truth is that emotions drive our perception of reality. Positive emotions drive curiosity and motivation. Negative ones, on the other hand, detract further interaction. The understanding of how emotions are formed and experienced, hence, is what can impact good UX design.
This is where American researcher, professor and author, Don Norman’s take on the cognitive elements of emotions are truly valuable. This is how he classifies them:
Visceral: One’s gut reactions to a stimulus. A whiff of pizza from your favourite pizzeria creates a sense of warmth and wellbeing. Similarly, the first unrationalized response to a website landing page can be either refreshingly positive, or completely abysmal.
Behavioural: One’s subconscious response to design, evaluating how well and easily it helps one achieve goals. For example, you walk into your favourite supermarket and find things conveniently stacked and categorized in a way that makes your shopping experience better. Similarly, shopping on an eCommerce website where you feel in charge of your search and browse experiences. These are both instances where behavioural experiences play a role in emotion formation.
Reflective: One’s conscious and deliberate assessment of an experience in retrospect. A great example would be walking into a restaurant and having special care and attention being given to your seating preferences, dietary requirements or even a surprise birthday dessert. From the digital point of view, a personalized experience is the best example of creating positive reflective emotions by paying conscious attention to individual requirements.
Good user experience is a culmination of all these three cognitive layers of emotion. The visceral level cannot be rationalized. You’d rather focus on eliminating negative stimuli and ramping up positive ones. Behavioural factors, on the other hand, can be easily played up by improving functionality and ease of use. That said, though behavioural factors seem like ‘usability’ problems, they still do require a mindful approach to truly solve user problems. Lastly, catering to the reflective mind doesn’t exclude visceral and behavioural factors. It leverages the two and goes a step ahead by turning the crosshairs on what actually makes users feel good. And this is what makes the emotional quotient integral in UX, not just as a design discipline, but also as a business strategy.