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CATEGORIESTotW: Can a Design Connect Emotionally AND Be Usable?
August 13th, 2006One of the new trends generating a lot of buzz with regards to web design is Emotional Design. Basically this means creating an emotional experience — one that goes beyond simply completing a task — for users of any particular site. In my industry — retail — this means recreating the positive experience that pleasure shoppers have when they go to their favorite store or interact with their favorite retailer offline.
The principles of web usability, however, suggest that we make sites as easy as possible to use — focusing on our users’ ability to complete the task they are trying to complete, be that purchase an item, conduct research, contact customer service, etc.
But what if the task is something less concrete, such as pleasure shopping? In that situation, perhaps those very things that we see as distractions and diversions during the so-called tasks we expect users to complete actually add to the experience? Multimedia like video, audio, animation, etc. may actually enhance the emotional experience a customer will have on any site. Usability experts, including myself, often preach the values of ignoring functionality that is simply “cool” for cool’s sake, and ensuring that everything on a site adds some sort of tangible value. What if that value, however, is merely being “cool”, i.e. adding positively to the emotional experience of the user?
Are these concepts changing the way we evaluate usability? Can a site make an emotional connection and be usable at the same time?
Certainly it can. In my opinion you should look at the big picture and pay attention to the overall user experience, which includes both the cool features creating emotional connection AND good usability. Being cool and being usable are not exclusionary qualities; on the contrary, they complement each other.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I *love* to shop. I love the high I get when I buy something that I just can’t wait to wear or use. I typically don’t get this high though when I shop online. I believe that it’s because I don’t have the purchased items in my hot little hands right then and there. The high or happiness comes much later when they arrive in the mail. In this specific context, I’m not sure that any amount of extra multimedia on a website would give me the emotional experience that I get when I shop offline.
Kyle, your point emphasizes the fact that the ENTIRE process needs to be a good experience — including receiving the box! I’ve noticed places like GAP and JCREW now wrap their clothes in nice tissue paper and top with a well-placed sticker — clearly they are trying to provide a positive, emotional experience for the box opener.
That’s a very good point Mike. I do a lot of shopping at redenvelope.com for this reason. They have a distintive red box gift wrapping that I love. It really makes the gift that much more special. It’s one of the first places I look for sending x-mas or other gifts to friends or family.