You know that feeling you get when you are riding a roller-coaster, or watching a really good horror movie? The emotions experienced during these activities are what recent TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering PhD graduate Steven Fokkinga calls ‘rich’ emotional experiences, and they were the focus of his thesis for which he received his PhD cum laude.
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Titled ‘Design -|+ Negative emotions for positive experiences’, his thesis, published 25 November, is in the field of emotion-driven design. Fokkinga explained that this field takes root in the idea that by drawing on insights from emotion psychology, sociology and anthropology designers can invoke particular emotional experiences. The thesis looked specifically at what he calls ‘rich’ emotional experiences. These are overall positive experiences which people seek out and enjoy, not despite, but because they involve negative emotions; he referenced listening to sad music or riding a rollercoaster as examples.
The research examined what makes up this phenomenon, and through in-depth interviews with people about their experience not only with products, but in their daily lives, created models. With input from student and professional designers, the paper investigated how designers can use this knowledge including several examples created with the help of Italian designer Sara Ferrari.
In addition to his thesis, Fokkinga recently launched a website called Negative Emotion Typology, an initiative of the Delft Institute of Positive Design of which he is a co-founder. He explained to Delta how although the last three decades have seen knowledge about emotions become more available in academia, “I really found there was a need for cleaner and more intuitive information when it comes to emotions.” The website is a database with information about specific emotions which is described as both scientifically sound and inspiring. Intended for use by designers, the database has also been well received by others, from companies to therapists.
When asked why emotion is important to design, Fokkinga stated that when designing, many privilege functionality, considering the emotional aspect the icing on the cake. However emotion-driven design considers emotions a more holistic way to approach the product from the consumer’s point of view, as “the appearance, functionality, usability, cultural meaning, the social implications of a product, any aspect that has some kind of impact on people’s lives, will invoke an emotion.” He added that there is no such thing as emotionally neutral design, and as such he sees emotion not as the icing on the cake but as the whole cake itself, central to the appearance, functionality and usability of a design.
Fokkinga is currently working part-time as a postdoctoral researcher, and in his own consultancy company. He has now started working on positive emotion, and plans to expand the emotion typology website to include this.
Name: Steven Fokkinga
Thesis: ‘Design -|+ Negative emotions for positive experiences
PhD Supervisor: Dr. Pieter Desmet and Dr. Paul Hekkert
Defence date: November 25, 2015
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