Assignment 2: Products and emotion

::My experience::

In my opinion, most products we find in the market are designed for meaning, not so much experience. They are designed to convey messages with meanings that are highly dependent on the perception of the receivers. It is the perception which determines experience. Experience is personal.

We have been taught in school that human emotional attributes are resulted from three different levels of brain processing-- visceral, behavioral and reflective.

n

Keychains are common. Everyone needs a keychain when they have more than 1 key to keep. Below are 3 examples of visceral, behavioral and reflective design:

The Key Ring:

Visceral:
Not appealing in design at all. What you see is what you get. A ring that is silver in colour. It fails terribly in terms of its initial appeal.

Behavioral:
Simple, light and easy to use.

With a slight force, you can pull the ring open, slide in the keys and simply lock it back into position when you are done. When it comes to removal of a particular key, the user can simply remove that one key without having to remove the rest.

Reflective: Not engaging at all. There is no show value and most importantly, it doesn't reflect who I am.


Andrew Brownsword Collection: Forever Friends Horoscope Keychain

Visceral:
Colourful and attractive appearance. The bright colours catch people's attention.

Behavioral:
Relatively easy to use. However, as the ring is tight, there will be some initial difficulties in trying to slide the keys into the ring.

Removal of a particular key will require user to remove all the other keys that are in front of it. Inconvenience resulted.

Reflective:
The design attached to the ring reflects the horoscope of the owner. It is somewhat 'personalized' in this manner.

It is also slightly more expensive than ordinary keychains because of the brand name. It can be considered as a showy item to a certain extent.


Made in Sweden Designer Keychain

Visceral: Sleek, modern and attractive in appearance.

Behavioral:
Difficult to use. With no instruction manual attached, one needs the salesgirl to explain how to function this keychain.

How the user go about inserting in the keys:
1. Pull down one side of the 'rope' which the figuring is holding.
2. Unscrew the tiny knob at the bottom of the string (only the left side can be unscrewed)
3. Remove the 'rope' from the hand and insert the keys

In addition, the knob is so tiny that it becomes difficult to grip when unscrewed. Thus, there is a tendency to drop the knob if one is not careful.

Relatively heavy despite its size.

Reflective:
It is something with high show value because aesthetically, it has a very nice finish to it.

It has a design which is out of the ordinary as well.

In addition, the cost adds value to its appeal.