Ellen Lupton - Design Is Storytelling

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Design Is Storytelling
Ellen Lupton
COOPER
HEWITT
Copyright © 2017 by Cooper Hewitt, DIRECTOR OF CROSS-PLATFORM PUBLISHING: Pamela Horn
Smithsonian Design Museum CROSS-PLATFORM PUBLISHING ASSOCIATE: Matthew Kennedy
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Names: Lupton, Ellen, author.
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Title: Design is storytelling / Ellen Lupton.
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Description: New York, NY : Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Museum, [2017]
| Includes index. |“This book explores connections between
storytelling and design. It examines the psychology of visual
communication from a narrative point of view.”—Publisher’s
description.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017036709 | ISBN 9781942303190 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Design—Human factors. | Design—
Psychological aspects. |
Storytelling in art. |Visual communication—Psychological
aspects. |
Creative thinking.
Classification: LCC NK1520 .L867 2017 | DDC 745.4—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036709
3 Smithsonian Design Museum ISBN 978-1-942303-19-0

Contents
4 Overture
FOREWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INCITING INCIDENTS
14 Act1| Action
Narrative Arc
Hero’s Journey
Storyboard
Rule of Threes
Scenario Planning
Design Fiction
56 Act2|Emotion
Experience Economy
Emotional Journey
Co-creation
Persona
Emoji
Color and Emotion
112 Act3/| Sensation

The Gaze
Gestalt Principles
Affordance
Behavioral Economics
Multisensory Design
152 Aftermath
CLINIC | IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
CLASSROOM | PROJECT GENERATOR
TAKEAWAY | STORYTELLING CHECKLIST
INDEX
[Curtain is closed.
Stage is dark. ]
OVS ahiics
6 DESIGN IS STORYTELLING
Foreword
Caroline Baumann, Director

Once upon atime, museums were staid palaces of culture. These

formal and forbidding places sought to safeguard the treasures of
civilization. Today’s museums are more open and participatory.
People come here to look, learn, make, and converse.
At Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, storytelling is
part of everything we do. We tell stories about the lives of designers,
the process of design, the power of technology, and the evolution
of materials. We tell stories about how communities create
change and how designers have built their own profession. Every
exhibition, event, and web entry has a dynamic narrative arc.
Cooper Hewitt’s visitors devise their own stories from the
artifacts and ideas they find here. Every museum visit is a unique
path through a sensory world. Those paths have peaks of intensity
and points of rest. A professional designer or a college student will
have a different museum experience—and a different story to tell—
than a third-grader or an international tourist.
Cooper Hewitt publishes original works of scholarship across
all media, from exhibition catalogues and monographs devoted to
design minds to e-books and even coloring books. Each publication
has a point of view about how and why design is practiced. This
book, Design Is Storytelling, is a new contribution to the field of
design education. Ellen Lupton, Cooper Hewitt’s longtime curator
of contemporary design, has gathered here a fascinating range
of insights about the narrative impact of design. This fun and
practical book will be useful to designers, educators, students, and
clients alike—and to anyone interested in using design to inspire
action and stir emotion. Enjoy!
Acknowledgments
Ellen Lupton, Senior Curator of Contemporary Design

| first approached my colleagues at Cooper It has been my privilege to be a student myself

Hewitt with an idea for a book about design and in the MA in Writing program at Johns Hopkins
storytelling in September, 2015. | am so delighted University. It is here that | came to study the
and thankful that the concept was enthusiastically theory and mechanics of narrative, and it is here
supported by Caroline Baumann, Director, and that | began to explore the overlaps between
Cara McCarty, Curatorial Director. It has been a design practice and storytelling. | am grateful
privilege to work on this book with their support for everything | have learned from the faculty at
and expert guidance. Hopkins, especially from William Black, Mark
| never would have finished creating this Farrington, Karen Houppert, and Jeannie Venasco.
book without the energy and drive of Pamela Many artists, illustrators, and designers shared
Horn, Cooper Hewitt’s Director of Cross-Platform their work for this book. | thank each of them for
Publishing. She pushed me to keep moving when their talent and generosity. However, no single
the task felt impossible, and she constantly artist contributed more than my dear friend and
brought me new sources and directions to explore. long-time collaborator Jennifer Tobias. This book is
She supported the creative process in every way truly our joint effort, a labor of love that filled many
and made this book a personal priority. Matthew weekends with sketching, talking, and musing. I’m
Kennedy is an editorial partner with exquisite also grateful to my friend and teaching colleague
judgment and wit; working with him is always fun Jason Gottlieb for bringing so much care and
and productive. creativity to the cover design.
Over the past decade, the courses | have taught Much thanks goes to my friends and family for
at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in their patience and interest. | am grateful to my
Baltimore have revolved around experience and parents (Mary Jane Lupton, Ken Baldwin, William
communication. Design is no longer focused on Lupton, and Lauren Carter), my children Jay
static objects and images. Design is a time-based, Lupton Miller and Ruby Jane Miller), my sister
interactive enterprise. | am grateful to all my (Julia Reinhard Lupton), my brilliant husband
students and colleagues at MICA for demonstrating (Abbott Miller), my friends Edward and Claudia,
the power of stories and inspiring me with their and all the Miller sisters.
creative work. | owe special thanks to Marcus
Civin, John Dornberger, Brockett Horne, Gwynne
Keathley, Jennifer Cole Phillips, and my many
graduate and undergraduate students.
DESIGN IS STORYTELLING
TOMINE
Illustration by Adrian Tomine

OVERTURE
S)
Inciting Incidents
I first heard the statement “Design is problem solving” when I was

an art student at The Cooper Union in New York City. This was the
early 1980s—long before the arrival of Photoshop, digital fonts, or
the Internet. We were taught that in order to solve visual problems,
designers should apply simple forms in a rational manner. The
signage system used in New York City’s subway was—and is—a
brilliant work of problem solving. To create it, Massimo Vignelli and
Bob Noorda deployed sans serif type and bright dots of color to unify
a network of deteriorating stations. The system, implemented in 1970
after years of research, is easy to understand and efficient to maintain.
Problem solved, four decades and counting.
The MTA’s signage system tells you more, however, than where
to find the A train. When the signs first appeared, those crisp white
letters and sharp dots of color annnounced a new language of rational
communication. The signs didn't just solve a problem; they embodied
ideas and principles. They celebrated the subway’s transition from a
collection of competing subway lines to a government-owned public
authority. They conveyed values about order, reliability, and civic life.
As astudent, I felt that problem solving didn’t account for
everything I wanted to know about design practice. Problem solving
wasn’t enough. What about beauty, feeling, and sensation? What about
humor, conflict, and interpretation? Ever since those student days,
I’ve been asking these questions in my work as a writer and curator.
Fascinated by critical theory, I have written about relationships
between writing and typography. As a professor at Maryland
Institute College of Art (MICA), I have explored experience design,
multisensory design, and the psychology of perception. As a curator
at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, I’ve looked at how
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OVERTURE Inciting Incidents V
designers have approached feminism, the body, and the user.

I marvel at Cooper Hewitt’s inclusive collection, which includes
everything from Vignelli’s abstract map of the New York City
subway system to a birdcage shaped like a neo-Gothic cottage.
The museum was founded in 1895 as a resource for working
artists and designers, including students attending The Cooper
Union, the museum’s original home. Today, Cooper Hewitt,
Smithsonian Design Museum addresses all levels of design
education, from kindergarten to grad school.
A subway is more than a rational system. It is a place where
people fall asleep, fall in love, get drunk, get lost, and sometimes
take their lives. Trains rumble, platforms murmur, and ads
hawk everything from underpants to wrinkle cream. In 2008,
Yves Béhar designed a line of free condoms (distributed by
the city’s health department) inspired by New York’s subway
signs. Applied to condom packaging, the subway’s colorful dots
represent a city where people move about and freely mingle,
a place of love and danger. Béhar practices human-centered
design, a methodology that combines rational problem solving
with emotional storytelling.
This book explores connections between storytelling and
design. Stories depict action and stimulate curiosity. A story can
be shorter than a limerick or as long as an epic poem. Design
uses form, color, materials, language, and systems thinking to
transform the meaning of everything from transit signs and
web apps to shampoo bottles and emergency shelters. Design
embodies values and illustrates ideas. It delights, surprises, and
urges us to action. Whether creating an interactive product ora
data-rich publication, designers invite people to enter a scene
and explore what’s there—to touch, wander, move, and perform.
Design Is Storytelling examines the psychology of visual
communication from a narrative point of view. Human beings
actively seek and create patterns as we navigate the world—
and we feel intrigued, stimulated, and sometimes frustrated
when patterns break. Storytelling can help products and
communications hook the imagination of users and invite
actions and behaviors.
A young woman approached me recently after a lecture

in Beirut, Lebanon, eager to discuss creative practice. “What
excites me about design,” she said, “is the potential to transfer
information into someone else’s mind.” Stories do that, too.
Stories travel from person to person and place to place. A
well-made sentence moves ideas from the head of a writer
to the head of a reader. That’s how Steven Pinker talks about
writing in his wonderful guide The Sense of Style. Good writing
communicates more than information, however. Effective
storytellers convey emotion, feeling, and personality. They
bring characters and settings to life. Exchanging energy—not
just transferring data and facts—occurs whenever a product
is used, or an image is seen, or a game is played. That energy
comes from the dynamic, world-making relationship between
creators and audiences, between makers and users.
Design Is Storytelling is a playbook for creative action. The
tools and concepts presented here address today’s dynamic,
user-focused design practices. Throughout the book, readers
will discover ways to use graphs, diagrams, writing, and other
methods of invention and analysis.
Design Is Storytelling unfolds in three main acts. Act I,
“Action,” explores the patterns that underlie nearly every
story, from the narrative arc to the hero’s journey. Designers
can apply these patterns to users’ relationships with products
and services. The process of unboxing a gadget, opening a
bank account, or visiting a library follows a dramatic arc with
highs and lows, anticipation and suspense. Design is an art
of thinking ahead and predicting possible futures. Scenario
planning and design fiction encompass a range of tools and
techniques for imagining unknown situations, questioning the
status quo, and plotting possible futures.
Act II, “Emotion,” looks at how design plays with our
feelings, moods, and associations. Co-creation helps designers
build empathy with users and create solutions that enhance
life. No one is happy all the time. A user’s emotional journey
can include lows as well as highs, hitting points of annoyance
and anger as well as satisfaction.
OVERTURE Inciting Incidents 13
Act III, “Sensation,” focuses on perception and cognition.

Stories hinge on action, and so, too, does human perception.
Concepts such as the gaze, Gestalt principles, and affordances
reveal that perception is a dynamic process of creating order
and meaning. Research in behavioral economics shows that
small design cues can influence decision making. Perception
is active and transformative. The people who see, touch, and
use our work participate in its realization. Color and form are
gateways to multisensory design. Design can guide people ina
certain direction, but users will each take their own paths.
The book wraps up with tools for evaluating projects. Tips
for writing will help designers convey clear and active stories.
A project generator for students and teachers is a table of
mix-and-match, do-it-yourself design challenges to try in the
classroom or at home. Finally, a storytelling checklist asks a
series of questions about the design process. Does your project
depict action? Does your project deliver a call to action to users?
Have you built empathy with potenital users? Will your project
engage viewers in active, creative looking? Have you used
design elements to invite action from users?
This is a book about design processes and how to talk
about them. Designers use Stories to stir emotions and quell
uncertainty, to illustrate facts and sway opinions. The process
of using an app or planning a trip builds over time, supported
along the way with sounds, sights, and physical feedback.
Roadblocks and obstacles mar the experience and slow us down
(dead batteries, rejected credit cards, or a senseless onslaught of
pop-up windows). Each scene in these everyday dramas can be
pleasurable or cumbersome, depending on how the experience
has been planned.
I hope you will enjoy reading this book, which has been
designed for use alongside a designer’s active work process.
The book is full of playful pictures, which tell their own stories
alongside the written ones. I couldn’t have created this book
without support and inspiration from my colleagues at Cooper
Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and my students and
collaborators at MICA.
Designers today produce
more than logos and cereal
boxes; they create situations
that stimulate the mind and
body over time.
Act 1| Action
OEDIPUS
AT THE
TOLL
THEBES
THIS LANE
ONLY
Illustration by Ellen Lupton

ACT 1
Action
At a conference in New Orleans, a young designer asked me what

I was working on. He looked gravely concerned when I told him I
was writing a book about storytelling. “Have you heard about the
mantle of bullshit?” No, I hadn't.
“Stefan Sagmeister,” he explained, “gave an interview saying
that storytelling is bullshit. You should see it.”
In the interview, Sagmeister denounces a designer who creates
roller coasters for theme parks and calls himself a storyteller.
According to Sagmeister, storytelling is a “mantle of bullshit” that
designers use to load up their work with glamour and prestige.
A roller coaster designer doesn’t tell stories—he designs roller
coasters, and that should be interesting enough on its own.
Yet roller coasters do share a pattern with many stories. The
ride starts out on level ground and builds toward a climax. As the
cart climbs slowly up the track, it stores energy that will be released
in a whooshing drop after the passengers reach the highest point.
The energy released by the roller coaster is not only physical but
emotional, heard in the ecstatic screams of riders.
Roller coaster designers work to amplify the emotional intensity
of the ride, drawing out suspense toward the zenith. In his book
Sonic Boom, Joel Beckerman writes about a roller coaster designer
who inserted a silent pause just before the apex. The unexpected
quiet makes riders worry. Is something wrong? Did the machine
break? Is something terrible about to happen?
Filmmakers generate suspense with similar techniques, pausing
the action before the villain jumps out of the closet. The following
pages explore some of the patterns that underlie stories, including
the rising and falling energy of the narrative arc and the circular
return of the hero’s journey.
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Illustration by Grant Snider for the New York Times Book Review
ACT 1 Action 19
Designers sometimes think of a building, chair, or poster

as a Static artifact. Yet we experience each of these things over
time. A hospital or airport is a sequence of physical spaces
(entry halls, receiving zones, passageways, and seating areas).
The rooms in a building change from open to compressed, light
to dark, warm to cool, soft to hard, to support different uses.
Some activities are quick and intense, while others are slow
and relaxed. Architecture isn’t “frozen music” because it isn’t
frozen. Time never stands still.
A poster or an illustration is temporal, too. Eyes wander
across its surface, darting from detail to detail to build a whole
picture, focusing on some areas and leaving others in the
background. A book compresses time and space between two
covers. A book has a fixed sequence of pages, yet users can
enter—and exit—from any point they choose.
In a novel or movie, the order of events doesn’t always
match the order in which the audience encounters them. The
dastardly deed in a murder mystery often occurs early in the
story. Someone has been murdered but we don’t know why.
(Later we will learn that Bob killed Aunt Mary in order to inherit
her rent-controlled apartment.) To write a mystery, the author
has to work out the underlying structure (Sometimes called the
“plot”) and then reveal that structure bit by bit (the “story”). The
story entices readers with clues and false leads. By the end, the
author has shone light into the dark corners of the plot, bringing
its secret architecture into view.
Designers plan structures, too. The client’s brief fora
building or website explains what functions the project will
fulfill. A shoe store might need retail space, office space, a
stockroom, and a loading dock. A website for the same store
might need a product database, e-commerce tools, user
accounts, and FAQs. Architects and designers plan the layout of
these physical and virtual places as well as plan different paths
people could take through them. UX designers use diagrams
and site maps to chart the structure of an app or website, and
they create user flows to predict potential journeys.
One of the most famous tales in Western literature is

Oedipus Rex. An oracle tells the king of Thebes that his own
son will eventually kill him, so the king wounds his newborn
child (Oedipus) and abandons him outdoors to die. (What
could possibly go wrong?) A kindly shepherd rescues the baby,
who grows up to slay the king in a fit of road rage on his way
to destroy the evil Sphinx, a monster blocking the entrance to
the city of Thebes. Oedipus defeats the Sphinx and is declared
king—an honor that involves marrying the queen. Alas, the
queen is Oedipus’s mother. When the royal couple discover
what they have done, she hangs herself, and he pokes out his
eyes. End of story.
Aristotle used Oedipus Rex as a universal template for
storytelling. The essence of drama, he wrote, is action.
Characters, scenery, and moral lessons exist for just one
purpose: to underscore the main action of the story. In an
effective narrative, the main action must attain sufficient
“magnitude,” culminating in dastardly deeds or profound
discoveries. The chicken can’t just cross the road; she needs a
compelling reason to do so (reunite with egg; serve paternity
papers to rooster), and she needs to overcome obstacles along
the way (roadkill, left-turning cyclist, zealous traffic cop).
Stories ask questions and delay the answers. The main
action of any dramatic tale can be phrased as a question (“Will
Oedipus escape his fate?” “Will the chicken deep-fry the rooster
for his crimes?”). Finding out the answer yields a satisfying
ending that completes the action and makes the story whole.
CRISIS | CLIMAX
(RESOLUTION)
RISING
ACTION
LOOKS LIKE A ROLLER COASTER In the words of

Jack Hart, “A true narrative arc sweeps forward
FALLING ACTION
across time, pushing ahead with constant motion.
(DENOUEMENT)
EXPOSITION It looks like a wave about to break, a pregnant
package of stored energy.” Illustration adapted
from Jack Hart, Storycraft: The Complete Guide to
Writing Narrative Nonfiction (Chicago: University
of Chicago Press, 2011).
TIME
ACT 1 Action
21
rv
BEGINNING MIDDLE END
The Sphinx blocking the gates of Thebes asks every traveler

a riddle. She destroys anyone who cannot answer. Here’s the
riddle: “What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs during
the day, and three legs at night?” The answer, replies Oedipus, is
a human being. He crawls as a baby, walks upright as an adult,
and carries a cane in old age. The riddle of the Sphinx divides
human life into three parts: beginning, middle, end.
Action drives stories, and it also drives the design process.
Design makes things happen in the world. The word “action”
is at the heart of “interaction.” “Design” is a verb as well asa
noun. At the start of the creative process, designers ask what a
product or service can do for people—and what people can do
with it. What actions does a product enable? A calendar doesn’t
just list events. It’s a tool for mapping one of life’s most precious
resources. A photo album isn’t just a place to store pictures. It’s
a way to edit and share personal histories.
Like an absorbing story, a well-designed product, place, or
image unfolds over time. It helps us create memories and forge
connections. It contains characters, goals, conflicts, and vivid,
sensory Settings. In a crowd-funding pitch for a theft-resistant
bicycle, dramatic camera angles and suspenseful music turn
the bike and its riders into crime-fighting heroes. In a shop
selling sultry dresses and eccentric housewares, soft light and
the scent of nutmeg convey spicy domesticity. Every pie chart,
retail space, food package, and hospital room expresses values
through language and light, color and shape. We touch design
with our minds and bodies. Sound, texture, taste, and smell
prompt our actions and fuel our memories.
TOOL
Narrative Arc
In 1863, the German playwright and novelist

Gustav Freytag created the narrative arc.
He divided dramatic works into five parts:
exposition, rising action, climax, falling action,
and conclusion or denouement. Freytag’s
up-and-down pattern is often visualized as a
pyramid, placing the climax at the highest point
in the action. This useful diagram is also known
as Freytag’s pyramid or Freytag’s triangle.
CLIMAX
RISING
FALLING
ACTION
ACTION
EXPOSITION DENOUEMENT
ACT] Action 23
CLIMAX
NARRATIVE ARC— ...the wolf

limbs down
THREE LITTLE PIGS the brick
chimney.
The third
little pig
makes a
The second oan of

little pig :
makes a
The first house out of
little pig wood.
makes a
house out of (ot
..and falls
straw.
ty
in the pot
on the frre.
The wolf can’t
blow down the
brick house so...
The wolf
l
blows the
house
down. ams -
The wolf
blows the DENOUEMENT
house The pigs eat wolf
EXPOSITION down. am a stew and acquire
Three little a WolfCam Home
pigs decide to Security System
build three little to protect against
houses. future wolf
G6@+&
invasions.
THREE LITTLE PIGS Each scene in a story is a smaller arc or READ MORE Donna Lichaw, The User’s
pyramid that contributes to the larger shape of the narrative. In Journey: Storymapping Products That
the story of “The Three Little Pigs,” the first two pigs build flimsy People Love (Brooklyn, NY: Rosenfeld
houses with straw and sticks, and the last pig builds a sturdy Media, 2016).
house with bricks. Each of the houses brings us closer to the
final showdown, when the wolf climbs down the chiminey of the
brick house and falls into the soup pot. The pigs eat the wolf for
dinner and live happily ever after. Wolf illustration by Chanut is
Industries.
24 TOOL DESIGN IS STORYTELLING
Narrative Arc
ups AND powns Surging from high to low and back again gives
stories their satisfying sense of completion. Complex narratives
contain stories within stories and conflicts within conflicts.
A narrative begins with an inciting incident or a call Many experiences that people enjoy conform to
to action. Cinderella gets her call to action when the the pattern of beginning/middle/end. Eating a falafel
king invites every maiden in the land to the royal ball. sandwich starts with anticipation. The appetite is
If Cinderella went straight to the ball, met the prince, stoked by the sight and smell of fried chickpeas
and got married, there would be no story. If the three swaddled in bread, sauce, and vegetables. The
little pigs all built safe, sturdy houses with affordable experience peaks as the process of eating finally
mortgage payments in a wolf-free community, there begins. At last, a heavy gut says, “Stop! It’s over!”
would be no conflict and no problems to solve. Having sex follows a similar path, reaching a brilliant
A full-blown novel or film breaks down into high point before drifting into mellow satisfaction.
dozens of smaller scenes and beats. Nearly every Untying a beautifully wrapped gift or popping open
shot in a movie is driven by a goal or intention. In a bag of chips signals the beginning of a story. The
a well-crafted sentence, the verb pulls the subject rustle of paper and the smell of salty snacks fuel
forward. In a product design, every user action— our desire.
from logging in to sharing content—is a smaller The design of anything from step-by-step
scene in a larger narrative. instructions to an enticing headline or an onscreen
Design decisions support users’ goals and menu can initiate a dramatic arc that moves from
intentions. Does a certain color, font, or texture low to high, desire to satisfaction. A gentle beep or
inspire emotions or trigger a response? Does a a reassuring click tells users an action is complete.
product’s visual and verbal language underscore its Designers use the rising and falling arc of narrative to
use? Are the required steps clear and engaging? emphasize large and small actions.
APPLYING THE The WolfCam

NARRATIVE ARC TO blasts a magical
PRODUCT DESIGN sound.
The Magical WolfCam

and the Big Bad Wolf
Wolf shows up van The magical sound

huffing and turns Wolf into a
puffing in Pig’s tiny mouse.
driveway.
Pig installs a
Magical WolfCam.
Pig is constantly Pig is forever free of

pestered and wolves. But now, he
harassed by Wolf. has a mouse problem.
ACT1 Action
25
FOOD AND SEX—

PLEASURE CYCLES
FOOD PLEASURE CYCLE
see,
smell, chew,
salivate
swallow,
PLEASURE
taste fullness
WANTING LIKING LEARNING/

SATIETY
SEX PLEASURE CYCLE
orgasm
plateau
PLEASURE
refraction
WANTING LIKING LEARNING/

SATIETY
PLEASURE SCIENCE Brain activity rises, peaks, and falls during a good meal
or a sexual encounter. This pattern resembles the rising and falling action
in a story. Charts adapted from Morten L. Kringelbach, Alan Stein, and
Tim J. Hartevelt, “The functional neuroanatomy of food pleasure cycles,”
Physiology and Behavior 106 (2012): 307-316; and J.R. Georgiadis and M.
L. Kringelbach, “The human sexual response cycle: Brain imaging evidence
linking sex to other pleasures,” Progress in Neurobiology 98 (2012): 49-81.
TOOL
Hero’s Journey
The circular pattern of the hero’s journey

occurs in tales across history, from Homer's
Odyssey to Star Wars and Mad Max: Fury
Road. A call to adventure draws the hero
away from ordinary life. Aided by a mentor, a
sidekick, or a wise guide, the hero crosses the
threshold into the unknown. In The Wizard
of Oz, Dorothy searches for a better existence
in the Emerald City. She finds a magic pair
of shoes, attracts a band of helpers, battles
Villains, and ultimately finds what she is
looking for back in the place she started. She
goes home to Kansas with new knowledge.
ROUND AND ROUND Joseph Campbell traced the hero’s journey

in his famous book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, published
in 1949. He applied the concept ofthe circular path to
numerous examples from world literature. The hero’s journey
typically includes a call to adventure, the aid of ahelper, anda
descent into a strange new place—often a “green world” such
as an Edenic garden or Emerald City. Illustration by
Chris Fodge.
ACT1 Action 27
ORDINARY
WORLD
CALL TO
RETURN WITH ADVENTURE
ELIXIR
é “af REFUSAL OF
THE CALL
RESURRECTION Tn
MEETING
THE MENTOR
€ EE
THE ROAD CROSSING
BACK THE THRESHOLD
SPECIAL
WORLD we
REWARD
st
ENEMIES
DO —_<
SEIZING THE APPROACH
SWORD
ORDEAL, DEATH,
AND REBIRTH
Hero’s Journey
ENTER THE LABYRINTH With its affordable meals and daycare services,
an IKEA store can keep an entire family busy for hours. Some
shoppers love the store so much, they come and spend the night
in the bedding department.
Yet despite the big blue store’s popular products Architect Alan Penn explains that an IKEA store
and remarkable amenities, sometimes an IKEA establishes a guided route that visitors are more
store feels like a maze, designed to trap and or less compelled to follow. After passing through
confuse hapless shoppers. A hero on a quest for a the portal of the Entrance Lobby, shoppers ascend
desk chair must endure a gauntlet of living room into the Showroom, where miniature rooms entice
vignettes and kitchen scenarios before finding them to imagine their own homes transformed into
the office section. An IKEA store is not, however, compact paradises of modern efficiency. The hero
a maze. It’s a labyrinth! A maze is a puzzle with takes notes along the way, collecting locations
hidden turns and dead ends where a wanderer for items that must be retrieved downstairs in the
could be lost forever. A labyrinth is a fixed path, Warehouse Area. Before reaching the Warehouse,
designed to carry a person along a controlled however, the hero must pass through the vast
journey with a clear beginning and end. Labyrinths Market Hall, stocked with ready-to-grab kitchen
have existed in Catholic churches since the Middle wares and bed linens. At this point, shoppers find
Ages. They were invented for meditative purposes, themselves suddenly free to put away their tiny
allowing a worshipper to walk in prayer for a pencils and fill their carts with merchandise in a fit
great distance within a small space. A labyrinth of grab-and-go consumption.
is designed to be disorienting, but because it
provides a single route, the wanderer will never be
truly lost.
((
MAZE Puzzle designed to confuse LABYRINTH Long, guided path

* CROSSING
THE
THRESHOLD ALLURE OF \
THE LIVING
ENCOUNTER \
WITH LIVING. |
SALES
PERSON q
Seg
VALLEY OF
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Descent o-._--O” BED, BATH :
& REBIRTH
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THE RECKONING
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illustration by Ruby Miller } THE FINAL HOT DOG
Hero’s Journey
guipep patu A visit to a mall or supermarket can be as a harrowing

as the road to Oz. Shopping malls are common triggers for
anxiety and panic attacks. Even a normal visit can leave a traveler
burdened with credit card debt and dubious treasures.
Going to the mall with companions can ease path through a series of galleries. At the time,
the trauma, unless one is escorted by a bored museums typically were designed as boxy rooms
boyfriend or a pack of angry toddlers instead of connected by symmetrical doorways. Although
a tin man and a cowardly lion. plans designed with this traditional central axis
In the typical American grocery store, fresh seem calm and orderly, Bayer and Moholy-Nagy
food occupies the edge ofthe store (meat, dairy, found—surprisingly—that halls with asymmetrical
produce, bakery, and prepared foods). Food openings actually move people along in a more
activist Michael Pollan warns the intrepid traveler controlled way.
to stay at the green edge of the store as much as Bayer and Moholy-Nagy advocated a
possible. However, to find a package of quinoa or multisensory, multimedia approach to exhibition
gummy bears, you will have to venture deep inside design, employing graphic arrows, phonographic
what grocery executives call the center store, recordings, and mechanized “moving carpets”
stocked with shelf after shelf of brightly colored to move people through space. Today, curators
cans, bags, and boxes. and exhibition designers continue to use signage,
Exhibition designers also grapple with guiding lighting, sound, barriers, and distinctive
visitors along a path. In their pioneering work landmarks to compel visitors to follow a linear
“Fundamentals of Exhibition Design” (1939), narrative. At the end of the labyrinth, they will
Bauhaus veterans Herbert Bayer and Laszlo often find a gift shop.
Moholy-Nagy explain how to create a guided
ODYSSEY OF THE SUPERMARKET The healthier food ina

supermarket is concentrated around the edges ofthe store,
while processed foods dominate the center. Many fresh foods
require refrigeration and access to kitchen areas, which makes
it economical for stores to keep those goods in the outer zone.
Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
READ MORE Herbert Bayer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy,

“Fundamentals of Exhibition Design,” The New York Public
Library Digital Collections, 1939-12-1940-01; Alan Penn, “The
$378¥1303N
SLINGS
ONY Complexity of the Elementary Interface: Shopping Space,”
University College London; Michael Pollan, Food Rules: An
Eater’s Manual (New York: Penguin Books, 2009); Michael
Powell, “All Lost in the Supermarket,” Limn, Issue Four: Food
Infrastructures (May 2014). http://limn.it/all-lost-in-the-
supermarket/; accessed June 12, 2016.
EXITW
ACT1
EXHIBITION
JOURNEY
SYMMETRY VS. ASYMMETRY Classical

museum buildings feature halls that
lead into each other with symmetrically
placed doorways. Although the floor plan
looks orderly, visitors don’t know where
to go first when they enter a new gallery.
Asymmetrical openings allow curators to |
\\
control the narrative. ay
ODD-SHAPED ROOMS Exhibition designers

use barriers and wall graphics to move
visitors through an assortment of odd
rooms.
ONE PATH, ONE STORY Curators and

designers can sometimes produce a
unified experience by creating a simple
and unambigous path. This may not be
the most satisfying experience for visitors.
FAST FOOD DRAMA SCHOOL
CHIPOTLE
MCDONALD'S
MAPPING A SERVICE Any product or service has a plot. Designers customers wait in line to order and then wait in line again to pick
ask, “What is the desired action? How does the user complete up food. Food is prepared in the background by servers who
the action?” People go to a restaurant not just for the food, but don’t communicate directly with customers. A palpable sense of
for a satisfying experience. At Chipotle, guests participate ina passive waiting clouds the experience.
drama. The process is active and transparent. At McDonald’s,
TOOL Action Ss
Hero’s Journey
RESTAURANT AS THEATER Designing a fast-food business involves more

than figuring out what food to serve. It requires architecture,
interiors, logos, packaging, menus, social media strategies, and
ways to move customers in and out of the store.
A visit to a fast-food restaurant is an adventure in action. The McDonald’s user flow is convenient for
design and branding. The intrepid hero seeking McDonald's but not especially pleasing to patrons,
sustenance waits in line, orders a dish, and pays while the flow at Chipotle is fun and engaging.
the bill. Sound, materials, and graphics add Dozens of restaurants in the “fast casual”
atmosphere and build dramatic tension. The store market segment—from the salad chain Chopt
layout supplies a consistent pattern of action. to the Korean diner Korilla—have embraced a
At the burrito-bowl purveyor Chipotle, transparent and engaging process similar to
customers participate in constructing the meal. As Chipotle’s. Some restaurants have concierges to
they select beans, cheese, and four kinds of salsa help customers through the process, keeping the
to fill their cardboard vessels, they take part in an line moving while keeping the process interesting.
active drama. Price lists and calorie counts build Meanwhile, as these more personal fast-food
emotional tension. The process is transparent experiences become popular, customers are also
rather than hidden, allowing them to witness the seeking radically impersonal services—choosing
food they are about to eat while absorbing the to order online and pick up food or have it
sound, sight, and smell of meat sizzling in the delivered with as little human contact as possible.
background. By the time they reach the register, Services like Seamless and Deliveroo cater to this
their food is ready to go. Chips, drinks, and ATM model of food service, while delivery-only
guacamole complicate the final reckoning. restaurants have become another business model.
For contrast, imagine a trip to McDonald’s. Every brand tells a story about a business,
Customers wait in line, tell the cashier what they product, service, or place. Chipotle’s Mexican-
want, pay their bill, and then wait again. They themed interiors underscore the adventure of
may not be sure where to wait—there’s no clearly ordering food. Room dividers and trash kiosks
designated spot, just a huddled mass of other made from corrugated metal suggest low-cost
customers with hunger in their hearts and receipts construction in a Mexican village. In many Chipotle
in their hands. They never interact with the people outlets, loud music, hard surfaces, and narrow
who prepare their food—these employees are stools encourage people to eat quickly or carry
busy in the middle ground or hidden away in their food out the door. Whereas soft chairs and
a mechanized netherworld. This disconnected WiFi in a coffee shop encourage longer visits—and
process neither empowers customers to serve a second cup of joe—Chipotle has little to gain
themselves nor involves them in a satisfying from slowing down the pace.
Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland,

in search of our better selves? MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, GEORGE MILLER, DIRECTOR
TOOL
Storyboard
Telling stories with a sequence of images is an

invaluable skill not only for filmmakers, comic
book artists, and graphic novelists, but for any
designer working with time and interactivity.
The purpose of a storyboard is to explain
action with a concise series of pictures. To
construct a storyboard, designers plan the arc
of a narrative and decide how to summarize
the story in a limited number of frames.
How does the story begin and end? What is
the setting? Where are the story’s points of
greatest intensity? Do characters or other
objects walk, run, or roll into the scene—or do
they magically appear in a blast of confetti?
Storyboards for animations or videos indicate
camera movements in addition to plot points.
Illustration by Hayelin Choi

ACT 1 Action 35
Zoom in. Zoom in.
ab. So
Frida Kahlo appears. Cut.
Yayoi Kusama appears.

Storyboard
DESIGNING A SATISFYING story There is a famous joke that is funny

because it refuses to be funny: “Why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side.” We expect a punch line, but all we get is a
mundane activity lacking any compelling motivation or outcome.
In a satisyfing narrative, the main action is Ingredients of a Story

signficant or noteworthy, yielding a transformation
arc The action has a beginning, middle, and end.
or shift in the world of the story. The character can
change, or she can change the people or events CHANGE The action transforms a character or situation.
around her. By solving an important problem, the
character sees herself in a new way. THEME The action conveys a greater purpose or meaning.
A satisfying story includes conflict and
COHERENCE The action builds on concrete, relevant details.
suspense. Questions create uncertainty, making
readers curious. The story is the process of PLAUSIBILTY The action is believable, following its own rules.
answering the question and resolving the
uncertainty. If the answer comes too easily, the
story is dull. Stories thrive on obstacles, delays, Here’s the beginning of a story: “Chicken steps
and moments of revelation. A story is a winding into the road, and a truck approaches from the
path, not a straight and efficient line. distance.” What happens next?
Like stories, many jokes function by flipping our
1. MAGIC CHICKEN In this version of the story, a magic balloon
understanding of an initial situation. The set up
lifts Chicken to safety. The magic balloon is a cheap way to solve
puts a picture in our minds; the punch line shatters the story’s central problem. Using it requires no skill or ingenuity
that picture. Woody Allen recounts this joke in his from our hero (or from the storyteller). It’s also implausible.
movie Annie Hall: “A guy walks into a psychiatrist’s An inflated blob of latex wouldn’t move quickly enough to save
Chicken fiom a speeding truck. Even fantasy tales should mesh
office and says, hey doc, my brother’s crazy! He
with our basic expectations about physics.
thinks he’s a chicken. Then the doc says, why
don’t you turn him in? Then the guy says, | would 2. DEAD CHICKEN The truck hits Chicken. End of story. This
turn of events—dramatic as it is—fails to quench our thirst for
but | need the eggs.” The punch line changes the
meaning. The dead bird is not only a defeated protagonist but
premise implied in the set up. also a passive one. She hasn’t completed the story’s action,
Storyboards are tools for planning the and she hasn't controlled her own destiny. Furthermore, she is
transformative action of a story. In a few simple carrying around a useless and redundant fish. This “red herring”
frames, a good storyboard expresses a progression adds neither action nor meaning to the narrative.
from beginning to middle to end. It conveys an 3. TOUGH CHICKEN This is the best version of the story. Here,
intriguing path and a signifcant change. It indicates Chicken is an active character, shaping the course of events.
necessary details and the point of view of each At the beginning, she appears to be a solitary, oblivious bird
adrift in a dangerous world. When she halts traffic and guides the
scene (near or far, first person or third person).
baby chicks to safety, she becomes a player on a bigger stage
Learning to tell a story in six frames is a good way and contributes to the social good. The action yields a greater
to master the essential elements of narrative form. purpose or theme, altering our initial assumptions.
READ MORE Uri Shulevitz, Writing with Pictures:

How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books (New
York: Watson-Guptill, 1985). Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias
ACT 1 Action 37
There are three ways this

story could end. Which
one feels more satisfying
and complete?
Storyboard
THINKING WITH sTorYBoaRDS Designers use storyboards to communicate

their ideas to clients and collaborators. Designers also use narrative
illustrations to think through a problem, sketch ideas, and empathize
with users as they confront everyday challenges.
Storyboards are a crucial tool in the human- In addition to creating illustrations of people
centered practice of industrial designer Mengyan interacting with a product in a physical context,
Li. She starts her design process by searching for designers produce storyboards to plan the actions
“problems and opportunities” that involve users that take place on a digital screen when a product
in personal situations. To brainstorm product is being used. The storyboards created by user
concepts for cyclists, Li imagined situations where experience designers range from simple, black-
people get frustrated trying to bring their bikes and-white wireframes to fully developed flats,
on acar or bus trip. Li says, “Storytelling is the which represent a product’s visual language in
most effective tool to make audiences enjoy a rich detail. Wireframes or flats often follow the
presentation, make them patient and curious to sequence of a user’s journey, from an “inciting
accept an idea, help them better understand an incident” or call to action (the event that triggers
instruction, and keep them awake in lectures. engaging with the product) through a series of
People love cute stuff.” Her storyboards convey the steps required to successfully achieve a goal or
emotional quality of a user’s experience. complete an action.
PLOT, CHARACTER, AND SETTING These poignant and appealing because there isn’t enough room for her bike. Three friends
storyboards depict frustrating situations for cyclists. Each enjoying a ride in the country meet another friend in a car. The
story brings us into a scene infused with real emotional driver wants to take everyone to the lake—but the car’s trunk
consequences. A cyclist going to work can’t get on the bus is too small for all the bikes. Illustrations by Mengyan Li.
ACT 1 Action 39
eases Flowerti> 41 AM 100% sees Flower a1 AM
ee WILLFLOWER WILLFLOWER
i will not eat this cake You've successfully sprouted rout will be
it will make me feel your willflower! a in 10 minutes.
terrible Go do what you need to do.
You got this!
9:41 AM
ee WILLFLOWER WILLFLOWER
Your willflower is ready Did you do what

to be planted! you wanted yourself to do?
'
7 Your willpower is growing! Congratulations!
O 6) . @)O (es! )
pl Your willpower is stronger!
plant your willflower
“Cake!
Cakel...! rc probably shouldn't
shouldn’ ____| Plant seed and watch it > Encourage
C user to avoidi
sprout for 10 seconds the impulse for 10 min-
while doing a calming, utes. Countdown starts.
simple exercise. Close app.
Mi Foot-in-the-door (FITD) isa Variable reward for reinforcing
compliance tactic that involves the initial pause and the ability
Z getting a pe oO agree to tot to thea hen use}
Click to start planting a —t—— Users fills in the sen- ree lar oe by first having rec aentiee an ae a
Willflower. tence “I will________ them accept a modest request
because | want___.”
When willpower fe l
adi is SU os cn t—| ask if user achieved goal. | > |

w we hal ige will hely |
Nice! You are one step You'll get it next time. It

closer to your goal. Plant gets easier. You can still
your Willflower. The flower plant your Willflower, but |
: . : blooms when planted. it will not bloom.
PRODUCT PROTOTYPE Willflower is a product designed to help
3 ; ries ‘of 2 Variable reward for reinforcing
the [People]
think guilt will motivate them
people strengthen their willpower by taking brie ? considered longer pause with customization to try harder. But science shows that
pauses when é facing a temptation, such as ordering a slice of and an extra surprise when the the answer isn’t guilt—it’s
x ‘ é attempt is successful forgiveness...self-criticism leads
to less
cake or peeking impulsively at Facebook. To develop Willflower, motivation, worse self-control, and
- : A A even depression.” (Kelly McGonigal
designer Louisa Liu researched the psychology of impulse | eee e eee ee
control, and she evaluated existing apps. Each time users seek v
to strengthen their willpower with the product, they plant a
Tag trigger. Optional body/
“willflower” in their garden. If the user avoids temptation for ten
stress/sleep check-in.
minutes, the flower blooms. The beautiful and varied flowers
Poor diet, negative emotion
inspire repeat visits. Liu’s sequence of flats reflects her user chronic pain and illness, stressful
journey map, which is annotated with insights from her research. pts Pan pected
Prototype designed and illustrated by Louisa Liu. willpower (Kelly McGonigal)
TOOL
Rule of Threes
Three is a magic number. Groups of three

appear in life, literature, and product
marketing: three wishes, three pigs, three
smartphone plans. A simple task has three
easy steps, and a story has three basic
parts: beginning, middle, end. Writers and
comedians use the rule of threes to create
lists whose last item is unexpected, as in
“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” or
“sex, drugs, and rock ’n roll.” In each of these
phrases, the last element breaks the pattern
set in motion by the first two. Designers use
three-part structures to construct stories and
interactions that surprise and satisfy.
ACT) Action 4
Casper
THE PERFECT
MATTRESS
FOR BREAKFAST
IN BED
$50 OFF WITH CODE “sUBWAY
CASPER.COM
THE PERFECT
MATTRESS
FOR GETTING
\) YOUR FREAK ON
$50 OFF WITH CODE “SUBWAY™
CASPER.COM
OM
Casper
THE PERFECT
MATTRESS
FOR FINDING
YOUR CENTER
$50 OFF WITH CODE "SUBWAY
CASPER.COM
Casper
THE PERFECT
MATTRESS
Yl pA ;
FOR FACING
YOUR DEMONS
TNS $50 OFF WITH CODE “SUBWAY

CASPER.COM
THREE-PANEL STORIES This illustrated subway campaign features

happy encounters with Casper, a mail-order mattress. Each story
is built around a familiar phrase, such as “breakfast in bed” or
“face your demons.” The story unfolds in three simple drawings.
The final frame reveals a twist or surprise that makes the story
funny. Campaign designed by Red Antler. Illustrations by Tomi Um.
42 TOOL
Rule of Threes
ONE, Two, THREE Next time you See a three-step guide to downloading
an app or activating a product, look closer to find out if the number
really matches up with the process. The seductive power of three
often masks a longer Set of tasks.
Breaking down a process into three basic steps It’s not so easy to bake a soufflé or build a
tells users that an action is easy to learn and space ship. Designers sometimes merge smaller
quick to complete: “Ready, set, go.” A three- tasks into bigger ones to put users at ease. That’s
step sequence—annotated with big numbers or okay, as long as you don’t cause confusion about
graphic icons—depicts a narrative arc that ramps what the task requires.
up quickly and yields a satisfying conclusion. Four In addition to depicting a basic story arc,
steps can also feel compact and accessible, but threes can be powerful memory aids. Writers
more than four suggests a process that demands a know this when they construct a punchy list that
bigger commitment. ends with a bang (“the butcher, the baker, the
Consider a recipe for scrambled eggs. If you candlestick maker”). Information designers break
start by explaining how to crack an egg, and down phone numbers and credit card numbers
gradually build up to finding a pan and turning on into chunks of three or four to make them easier
the stove, you will soon be telling a very long tale to remember. Many screenplays are structured in
indeed. If you make a few assumptions, however, three acts, and many restaurant meals have three
about what people might reasonably know about courses. Apps and websites often offer users three
kitchens and eggs, you could easily create a three- choices at key points of engagement, such as
step algorithm for the novice egg-scrambler. “Enroll,” “Log In,” and “Ask Me Later.”
BEGINNING GRAVEYARD
DESKTOP DRAMA The simple interaction of deleting computer BLACK HOLE

files employs animation and sound to grant the user magical
U
PU[}
feelings of power and dominion in a world offictional folders
and virtual trashcans. Describing an action in three steps makes
it follow a simple story arc. Designer Andrew Peters imagined
alternative endings to the familiar story of tossing desktop files
into a trashcan.
SHREDDER
ACT 1 Action
43
THREE LITTLE PIGS EAT

CONSTRUCTION INC
(0smaw
C
Pa srcns
PAY
Price LOVE
THREE STEPS, THREE CHOICES It takes courage to buy stuff. CHOICE ARCHITECTURE Designing the conditions in which
Depicting a process in three steps makes it look painless, and individuals make decisions is called choice architecture. Users
many digital forms offer just three options. According to some tend to choose defaults, such as pre-checked boxes. Thus
research studies, people who are faced with too many choices designers and other choice architects should carefully consider
may be less inclined to make any decision at all. “The Tyranny what defaults to present. Richard Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein, and
of Choice,” The Economist, December 16, 2010, http://www. Sean Pratt, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth,
economist.com/node/17723028; accessed July 29, 2017. and Happiness (London: Penguin Books, 2009).
TOOL
Scenario Planning
Whether the future is next year or next

century, it will be different from what anyone
expects. Scenario planning is a tool for
telling stories about the future. Businesses,
communities, and organizations use scenario
planning to think creatively about the future
rather than staying stuck in the present.
Scenario planners stress that a scenario is
not a prediction. No one knows what will
actually happen in the future. We do know
that the conditions of today (the present) did
result from decisions that were made in the
past. Likewise, the decisions we make now
will most certainly affect the future—we just
don’t know how.
ACT 1 Action
45
THE CONE OF
PLAUSIBILITY
CONE OF PLAUSIBILITY The cone ofplausibility looks like a funnel. The

narrowest point is the present. The cone widens as it looks toward the
future, where circumstances are less known. A scenario is considered
“plausible” if it proceeds in a logical manner from known trends or
developments. Adapted from Trevor Hancock and Clement Bezold,
“Possible Futures, Preferable Futures,” The Healthcare Forum Journal
(March 1994): 23-29. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
Scenario Planning
CONE OF PLausiBiLity Scenario planners use the cone of plausibility

to diagram future developments based on past or present trends.
Achieving preferred (rather than probable) outcomes requires
rethinking old habits and pushing past the status quo.
Military strategist Charles W. Taylor invented the A cone of plausibility can also look to the past
cone of plausibility in 1988. As a member of the as a source for current trends. A town planner
armed forces who studied military readiness, might study how cities functioned before cars
Taylor feared several developments that could became popular. A product designer might
cause government support for the military to explore how a new app or gadget displaced older
decline in the future. In one scenario, U.S. policy solutions to a similar problem.
could become more isolationist, causing military Blurble is an imaginary digital widget. Blurble’s
spending to drop. Alternatively, military growth CEO believes this clever product will dominate
would be stimulated by an increase in peace- the market forever, but the design team thinks the
keeping missions. future is a dark and stormy place full of dangers
Imagine Tipsy Cola, a major soft drink company for Blurble. Today, it’s hard to imagine life before
exploring the future of bottled beverages. Tipsy’s Blurble, but people once roamed the Earth without
sales have declined as consumers seek healthier it. Future threats include the rise of Blurble
and more sustainable choices. It is probable that sharing or a global crackdown on Blurble’s reckless
Tipsy’s sales will keep declining and eventually endangerment of consumer privacy.
stabilize. It is preferable that the company will Blurble’s scenario planners look at particular
grow and thrive by addressing the changing decisions they could make in the present and
demands of consumers and the environment. then explore the possible outcome of these
Wild-card scenarios include the future decisions in relation to one orsmore variables. For
discovery that sugary beverages make kids example, making Blurble open-source could yield
smarter, or the passage of future laws holding soft creative contributions from the community and
drink companies responsible for recycling their help Blurble thrive. Wild-card catastrophes could
own bottles and cans. Reviewing these scenarios include a massive recall of exploding Blurbles or
helps the product team generate wild new ideas, the invasive spread ofdriverless, paperless, self-
such as pill-shaped water enhancers, resuable cleaning Blurble clones.
packaging, and edible soda bottles.
READ MORE Charles W. Taylor, Alternative World Scenarios for a

New Order of Nations (Carlisle Barracks, PA: Strategic Studies
Institute, 1993).
ACT 1 Action 47
BLURBLE—
FOUR PLAUSIBLE
FUTURES
1, MONOPOLY
Blurble dominates market.
2. COLLAPSE
People stop needing Blurble.
3. COMPETITION
Successful alternatives arise.
FUTURE
4. COMMONS
Open software spreads the
benefits of Blurble’s hardware
dominance.
BLURBLE HISTORY
Blurble causes cancer.
PRESENT
Blurble cures cancer.
Blurble spawns new
PRESENT
Today, everyone
world religion.
owns a Blurble.
10 YEARS AGO
Few people understood
Blurble.
PAST
20 YEARS AGO
The technologies that
made Blurble possible were
beginning to emerge.
30 YEARS AGO
People lived rich, fulfilling
lives without Blurble.
Illustration by Jennifer Tobias

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TOOL 49
Scenario Planning
SCENARIO MaTRIx A Scenario matrix is a tool for mapping

choices on an x/y axis. The grid generates four
quadrants that help decision makers think about how
two variables interact.
Matrix diagrams are commonly used in scenario The Metro Museum of Regional Art is located
planning. Each quadrant in the four-square matrix in a postindustrial town. Public funding has
supports a different scenario. Often, one quadrant dropped, and so has attendance. Worries range
represents the status quo or “business as usual.” from practical matters (“How can we afford to
The other quadrants suggest new directions that stay open?”) to existential questions (“Why are
could be explored and developed. we here?”). The Metro Museum collects objects
To create a scenario matrix, make a list of related to local history, but few people visit the
forces affecting your product, organization, or museum’s dimly lit galleries lined with traditional
community. Strategist Jay Ogilvy calls these forces glass cases. The town doesn’t attract many
critical uncertainties. They might include changes tourists. How can the Metro Museum better serve
in social structures, consumer preferences, income the immediate community?
levels,or government spending and regulations. The planning team creates a matrix with two
From your list, choose two forces to map onto axes: Attendance and Mission. Each quadrant
the four-square matrix. Think about what would inspires a different story about the museum’s
happen to your product or organizaiton if each future. A simple phrase assigned to each scenario
of these quadrants became dominant. Give each makes the stories easy to remember and easy to
quadrant a compelling name. talk about. After discussing the scenarios, the
museum decides to actively create hands-on
experiences for new audiences. Instead of curators
doing their research in hidden labs, citizen experts
will become part of the process. The Metro
Museum can now begin designing exhibitions and
outreach campaigns that will help the institution
achieve this future.
SCENARIO I SCENARIO 2
wm | td
SCENARIO 3 SCENARIO 4
READ MORE Jay Ogilvy, “Scenario Planning and Strategic
Forecasting,” Forbes, January 8, 2015, http://www.forbes.com/
sites/stratfor/2015/01/08/scenario-planning-and-strategic-
forecasting/#62786e6b7b22; accessed January 9, 2017.
Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias.
TOOL
Design Fiction
Like novelists, many designers have a gift

for observing current society and technology.
Design fiction employs speculative
products and prototypes to anticipate
future trends or propose visionary solutions
to vexing problems. When science fiction
writers conjure imaginary worlds, the
settings they envision can be utopian or
dystopian. Likewise, some design fictions
depict gleaming futures filled with tech- .
enabled products, while others imagine
darker outcomes. Speculative design
amplifies current social and technological
developments. Such projects often look
ahead to reflect upon the present world.
ACT 1 Action 51
THE FUTURE OF UNDERWEAR
e\z Cloud-enabled underwear

tracks periods and fertility.
Vy Sensory panel detects

STDs and pH levels.
Digital chastity belt
requires entry code.
LY \ Underwear alerts user to

excessive heat levels.
FICTIONAL UNDERPANTS A team of designers gathered to think

about the future of underwear. Tech-enhanced underwear could
improve health and well-being. Technology could also lead
to new modes of control and surveillance. Concepts by Claire
Moore and Miles Holenstein. Project concept and illustrations by
Claire Moore.
Design Fiction
Future sturF Whether expressed via rough sketches or

elaborately realized imaginary worlds, design fictions
offer a rich arena for visualizing future life and picturing
both the dangers and promise of technology.
Gary Shteyngart’s novel Super Sad True Love Story, Conceptual design refuses to deliver market-
published in 2010, takes place in an exaggerated ready products or enticing images of a glittering
rendition of New York City in the early twenty- future. Like science fiction in novels and films,
first century. This super-sad future includes stark design fiction often asks where today’s excesses,
income inequality, privacy-killing social media, and inequalities, and errors might be taking us.
a dysfunctional U.S. political system controlled Several designers and art/design collectives
by global corporations. Shteyngart successfully have created decks of cards for inventing fictional
predicted future events because he was a close products. These decks use simple variables
observer ofthe present. Similarly, the British (analogous to the “suits” in standard playing
television series Black Mirror (created by Charlie cards) to generate random design prompts. The
Brooker, 2011) presents narratives about the future Thing from the Future, created by Stuart Candy
that amplify aspects of today’s social media; each and Jeff Watson, is a game that helps teams and
episode visualizes imaginary digital interfaces that individuals build stories about the future. Each
are eerily real and profoundly disturbing. story consists of an object, a mood, a setting, and
Many design projects are conceived as a narrative arc. Shuffling the deck yields endless
speculative proposals for the future. Exotic combinations. Players can purchase physical cards
concept cars and lavishly art-directed videos for Or print DIY decks from an open-source PDF. The
tech companies celebrate the wonders of growth game can be played with groups of students or
and innovation. Other veins of design fiction are other participants as a co-creation activity.
more critical. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby have The Thing from the Future is a storytelling
developed a practice they call conceptual design. machine. Turning the design process backwards,
They created this practice with graduate students it uses signals from a distant world to inspire
as a form of research that envisions alternatives new thinking. Candy calls this process reverse
to present existence. Dunne and Raby’s fictional archaeology. The results can be humorous
artifacts—from a plush-toy atomic mushroom Or provocative as well as practical. The game
cloud to an emotionally needy robot—hint at “a stimulates serious conversations about social and
parallel world of everyday philosophical products.” environmental sustainability.
Once designers step away from industrial production

and the marketplace, we enter the realm of the unreal,
the fictional, or what we prefer to think of as conceptual
design—design about ideas. ayriony ounne ano riowa rasy
ACT 1 Action
53
SOME THINGS FROM THE FUTURE
Beverage for an apocalyptic future overrun by zombies: GIANT BRAIN SLURPEE
aS
Totalitarian device using eye-tracking software to control what we see: EYE PAD
Airborne motivational messages designed to quell worry: BROCHURE-BOMBING DRONE
THE THING FROM THE FUTURE The original deck has four suits: READ MORE Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story (New
Object, Terrain, Mood, and Arc. The Arc suggests what kind York: Random House, 2010); Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby,
of future to imagine (“growth,” “collapse”). The Terrain card Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming
determines the context (“learning,” “zombies”). The Mood card (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013); Stuart Candy, “Dreaming
sets the emotional tenor (“worry,” “amusement”). The Object Together,” The Sceptical Futuryst, November 22, 2015, https://
card suggests what product to design (“beverage,” “device”). futuryst.blogspot.com/2015/11/dreaming-together_81.html;
The Thing from the Future recalls Oblique Strategies, a card deck accessed January 8, 2017.
created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975. Game designed

by Stuart Candy and Jeff Watson. Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias.
FORCED CONNECTIONS: UNDERWEAR FROM THE FUTURE
=,J
)
THT
5°.
“s+
DISPOSABLE The word “disposable” triggered

ideas for paper underwear.
Then, the designer sought out
sustainable alternatives. What
would a caveman wear? Concepts
by Erica Holeman.
Ideas for “religious” underwear

began with using scripture as
ornament and inspiration. Then,
the idea of “illumination” led to
underpants that glow in the dark.
Concepts by Erica Holeman.
nN —
MECHANICAL What if underwear could change

in response to emotional distress?
These pink panic pants wiggle
to provoke laughter. The blue
pants open up to let in extra air
or tighten up to hug the body.
Concepts by Ninad Kale.
ACT 1 Action 55
Design Fiction
FORCED CONNECTIONS Clashing ideas merge into new symbols, creating

metaphors, puns, and potent symbols. Clever products also arise from
combining disparate functions, materials, or processes.
Getting together with a group of designers is included “disposable,”

2 66
“mechanical,” “religious,”
a productive way to generate concepts. Most and “skeumorphic.” Inspired by these prompts,
designers have participated in group brainstorming designers came up with concepts ranging from
sessions. A moderator collects everyone’s underwear printed with Bible passages to paper
ideas during a short, intense meeting; negative boxer shorts and panic-control panties.
comments are not allowed. The sticky note— The initial prompt pushed each designer to
a star player in most brainstorming sessions— come up with surprising new forms and functions
has become an icon for design thinking. for familiar undergarments. This process works
Brainstorming with sticky notes is not the only with individuals as well as with groups. To get
way to generate ideas in a group. Try slowing down started, make a list of adjectives that could be
and giving participants some simple prompts and randomly assigned to your design problem. See
enticing art supplies. (A tray of cookies helps, too.) what happens when you explore the possibilities
Designer Claire Moore led a workshop exploring of each attribute. The process also works well
2 66
the future of underwear. To jumpstart the process, with verbs, such as “melt,” “mend,” “mock,” or
she gave each designer an attribute to apply to “magnify.” From the sublime or the ridiculous to
the basic notion of undergarments. Attributes the profoundly practical, unfamiliar concepts are
sure to emerge.
MAKE YOUR OWN

FORCED CONNECTIONS
Apply intriguing attributes to designs
for products, services, logos, typefaces,
illustrations, or web themes.
Alien Mechanical
Biomorphic Nebulous
Colossal Open
Disposable
Edible
Private
Queer
SKEUMORPHIC
Fluffy Religious
A “skeumorphic” interface applies a metaphor from the physical
Grotesque Skeumorphic
world to a process in the digital world (such as using a trashcan
Heartbreaking Therapeutic
to represent deleting files). These designs for skeumorphic
illegal Utopian
underwear allow people to try on a different gender. Concept by
Jumbled Vulgar
Erica Holeman.
Knotty Wrong
Literate Young
\llustrations by Jennifer Tobias
Zoological
A great story does
more than represent
emotion froma
distance. It makes
us feel an emotional
charge.
Act 2| Emotion
E L L A ' S
CINDER
} EMOTIONAL

ise)
ACT 2
Emotion
Why would you buy one pair of shoes instead of another? A runner
will focus on comfort and ergonomics. A vegan will focus on materials.
A bridesmaid will be searching for an awful shade of peach. Not all
choices are so pragmatic, however. A pair of shoes could also trigger
emotions, such as longing, lust, or painful memories of high school.
What shoes are you wearing now? Do you remember why you
bought them? Maybe you liked their style, quality, or price, or their
use of sustainable materials or fair labor practices. Since then, your
emotional connection may have faded or deepened. Perhaps those
shoes take you running or hiking, or they help you walk your dog or
bike to work. Some day they will wear out, but maybe you'll buy a
similar style later on, finding yourself attracted to a familiar stitch or
texture. Products change the way we feel. Our relationships with them
shift over time.
Designing for emotions requires thinking about how users will
anticipate an experience and how they will remember it later. Will
visitors to a hospital recall the warm fabrics and soft lighting of the
waiting room or the harsh glare and sharp disinfectants? Will tourists
who used a travel app remember how easy it was to find a train
schedule, or will they recall a fake hotel review and a clumsy login
process? Designers tap into people’s emotions to trigger feelings of
delight, desire, surprise, and trust.
Scientists and philosophers used to view emotions as sloppy,
irrational impulses. Anger, love, and fear were considered inferior
to critical analysis. Today, however, we talk about “emotional
intelligence” as the ability to read people’s feelings and respond in
ways that build understanding and cooperation. Designers train their
emotional intelligence by exploring empathy. They study the arc
of a user’s emotional journey in order to anticipate friction,

offer rewards, and acknowledge errors in a friendly and
compassionate way.
Designers can easily get trapped inside their own expert
mindsets. To create products for an older person, a child, or
someone with a disability or a different social background,
designers need to build empathy with the user’s values,
aspirations, and culture. Design researcher Deana McDonagh
explains, “Designers need to adopt strategies for accessing the
emotional context of the products that they have to design for
the people who will use them.” In the process of co-design,
design teams use a variety of research activities to establish
empathy with users.
Emotions are adaptations that aid the survival of a species.
Fear compels us to flee from danger, while love moves us
to protect our young. Emotion triggers action. When we
clench our fists, cringe in fear, dissolve into tears, or burst
into song, we express emotion through physical gestures.
Erupting spontaneously from the body, such gestures are
common to blind people as well as sighted ones. These actions
communicate feelings to the self and other creatures, making
emotional life as profoundly social as it is individual.
The feelings provoked by a clunky shopping cart or a long
wait at the dentist’s office are likely to fall on the paler end of
the emotional spectrum. When creating emotional journey
maps, designers often indicate “good” and “bad” experiences
with a happy or sad face. Designer Sherine Kazim thinks
designers should look beyond this banal binary to address a
more subtle range of emotions. For example, a game should
generate surprise. An infographic about a natural disaster
should acknowledge pain and grief. A meditation app should
help users feel calm and centered. In Australia, the National
Health Service successfully demanded that cigarette packages
be designed to inspire fear and revulsion.
ACT 2 Emotion 61
Admiration and loathing

are extreme emotions
that sit opposite each
other. Acceptance
is a milder form of
admiration—like a tint
ofadeeper hue.
optimism
interest a2 y © acceptance”
aggression Ela)dtot ef-tale]. a trust % submission

: y ecstasy ; ;
vigilance admiration
y
‘4 terror
loathing
grief
contempt awe
disgust surprise.
sadness
boredom ’ ')
q pensiveness |
ol
remorse disapproval
v ¥
\ “4
a
CHARTING EMOTIONS Psychologist Robert Plutchik designed a “boredom” or “serenity” (mild). Primary emotions mix to create
map of emotions inspired by color theory. He identified eight secondary ones. “Awe” is a mix of “terror” and “amazement”;
primary emotions, whose gradations and overlaps create dozens “love” is a cocktail of “joy” and “trust.” Illustration by Jennifer
of variants. “Rage” and “terror” sit opposite each other, just as Tobias. Adapted from Robert Plutchik, “The Nature of Emotions,”
red and green face off on the color wheel. Each primary emotion American Scientist 89 (July-August 2001): 344-350.
varies in intensity, from “loathing” or “ecstasy” (extreme) to
BEGINNING
At the visceral level,
design stirs an immediate
reaction to form, color,
VISCERAL
texture, and materiality.
Now
MIDDLE
At the behavioral level,
design prompts a physical
response or action.
Future
END
At the reflective level,
design engages memories
and associations.
DON NORMAN'S
THREE LAYERS OF
USER EXPERIENCE
THREE LAYERS Don Norman's three layers of user experience

overlap and mutually influence one another. Illustration by
Jennifer Tobias. Adapted from Don Norman, Emotional Design:
Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things (New York: Basic
Books, 2004).
ACT 2 Emotion 63
Emotions play a vital role in reasoning and ethical

judgment. According to philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum,
“Emotions are not just the fuel that powers the psychological
mechanism of a reasoning creature, they are parts, highly
complex and messy parts, of this creature’s reasoning itself.”
Emotions are more than inner feelings. They are active,
embodied responses to people, places, and events encountered
in the world around us.
Emotions can be profound and transformative (grief
when a loved one dies) or fleeting and mild (dismay when we
drop a scoop of ice cream). Nussbaum calls strong emotions
“geological upheavals of thought.” They loom up in the
moment like steep mountain peaks, confronting us witha
sudden threat, loss, or opportunity. Milder emotions unfold
gently in the background, like the general buzz of pleaure
felt when talking with friends or walking in the woods. All
creatures display emotions, from turtles and birds to cats and
dogs. Even single-cell organisms exhibit primitive emotions—
these microscopic creatures thrive and endure by evading
predators and exploring their surroundings.
Emotions affect the design of anything from a font ora
logo to a wireless speaker or a banking app. The success of a
product lies not just in its basic utility but in its meaning in the
lives of its users. When interaction design became a discipline
in the 1980s and 90s, the field focused on how to keep people
from getting frustrated by technology. The expression “don’t
make me think” became a battle cry for friction-free digital
experiences. Today, emotion and pleasure as well as intuitive
functionality are crucial elements of user experience.
Usability expert Donald Norman invites designers to
generate wonder and surprise. He divided user experience into
three phases: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. The visceral
component is what we process right away with our minds and
bodies. Here lie the sensuality of materials, the clash of colors,
and the allure of form and texture. Behavior is an action users
take—push a button, buy a book, read a caption, find the exit.
Reflection is what we recall later, the emotional associations
MASLOW'S
HIERARCHY
(OF USER
EXPERIENCE]
PLEASURABLE
RELIABLE
FUNCTIONAL
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS The diagram above is based on Abraham Designers Aaron Walter and Jared M. Spool applied Maslow’s
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a famous model of human hierarchy to user experience. Their pyramid adds pleasure on
psychology. According to Maslow, humans struggle to secure top of such interaction design basics as function, reliability, and
the essentials of survival (health, safety, and social acceptance). —_usability. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias. Adapted from Aaron
Only after securing these basic necessities can people attempt Walter and Jared M. Spool, Designing for Emotion (New York: A
to grow and achieve happiness and self-actualization. Book Apart/Jeffrey Zeldman, 2011).
ACT 2 Emotion 65
we forge with a product or service over time. “It is only at the

reflective level,” writes Norman, “that consciousness and the
highest levels of feeling, emotions, and cognition reside.”
Norman’s three phases of user experience recall the structure of
storytelling: beginning/middle/end.
Emotions are often what move people to use a product. We
turn to social media when we are hungry for love or validation.
We peruse a news feed or watch cat videos to vanquish
boredom or quell anxiety. Products can move users from one
emotional state to another. An exciting story is a winding path
of uncertainty and revelation. A story’s emotional arc shifts
over time. Designers use color, light, texture, and sound to
modulate the mood of a product, service, or place. Allowing
these elements to change in pace or intensity makes room for
dips and rises in emotional energy.
Emotion is temporal. Waves of feeling drag us out of
the present and into the past and future. Novelist F. Scott
Fitzgerald wrote that trying to live in the present moment
is a losing struggle. People, he said, are ceaselessly drawn
to “the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us.”
Mindfulness is a state of focused attention that requires people
to resist distractions and stay focused on what is happening
right now. Mindfulness is difficult to sustain because the
mind is a creature of history, constantly wandering back and
forth in time. Achieving mindfulness may yield deep psychic
rewards, but memory and anticipation are essential to the
human condition. Past and future are integral elements of full,
temporally complex experiences.
READ MORE Martha C. Nussbaum, Upheavals of Thought:

The Intelligence of Emotions (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2001); Deana McDonagh and Cherie Lebbon, “The Emotional Domain in
Product Design,” The Design Journal 3 (2000): p31-43; Sherine Kazim, “An
Introduction to Emotive UI,” Huge Inc, http://www.hugeinc.com/ideas/
perspective/an-introduction-to-emotive-ui, August 18, 2016; accessed
December 29, 2016.
TOOL
Experience Economy
In the twenty-first century, designing and

selling experiences eclipsed the manufacture
of physical things. An experience stirs
emotions and generates memories.
It embraces dramatic action, sensory
engagement, and temporal interaction with
users. During an experience, users create
meanings and associations that become
more important than the event itself.
The experience economy has changed:
the way commercial companies design and
deliver products. The experience economy
has also changed how schools, hospitals,
museums, and other organizations provide
services to communities.
ACT 2 Emotion 67
COMMODITY PRODUCT SERVICE _ EXPERIENCE

ECONOMY Agrarian Industrial Service Experience
ECONOMIC Extract Make Deliver Stage

FUNCTION
NATURE OF Fungible Tangible Intangible Memorable

OFFERING (interchangeable)
KEY ATTRIBUTE Natural Standardized Customized Personal
METHOD OF Stored in Inventoried Delivered on Revealed

SUPPLY bulk after on demand over
production time
SELLER Trader Manufacturer Provider Stager
BUYER Market User Client Guest
FACTORS OF Characteristics Features Benefits Sensations

DEMAND
THE RISE OF THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY Table adapted from

B. Joseph Pine Il and James H. Gilmore, The Experience
Economy (Cambridge: Harvard Business Review Press, 2011).
Experience Economy
EXPERIENCE Boom In the late 1990s, the term experience economy

became the banner of a business revolution. Customers and
employees became players in scripted dramas. Narrative eclipsed
physical things.
The word “experience” appears over 125 times The Starbucks drama begins when a customer
in this book. This term ricocheted through the passes through the portal of the cafe and plunges
business world with the publication of The into a curated world of sounds, smells, graphics,
Experience Economy in 1998. According to authors lighting effects, and furnishings. An elaborate lingo
B. Joseph Pine Il and James H. Gilmore, a new of beverage sizes and hot and cold concoctions
economic order was gripping affluent societies. indoctrinates users in a secret language, while
The “experience economy” had overthrown the servers and customers act out a sacred ritual. By
service economy of the 1950s and 60s, created writing names on customers’ cups, the cashier
when businesses like banks and insurance initiates personal contact, while the barista puts
companies became more important than ona show replete with explosive auditory effects.
manufacturing. The environment hums with social activity and the
Pine and Gilmore were fascinated by the rise of sounds and smells of making, stimulating desire
Starbucks. Why, they asked, were people willing and inviting a longer stay.
to pay so much for a cup of coffee, which could Theatricality drives experiences like this one.
be bought for next to nothing at the corner deli? For the authors of The Experience Economy,
Here’s why: Starbucks wasn’t just selling coffee; theater is not just a metaphor. Theater is real.
it was selling an experience. Deli coffee is cheap, When actors perform, they connect with an
convenient, and indistinguishable from the same audience. The cashier, the barista, and the
cup sold down the street for the same price. An customer take part in a living drama. They play
experience isn’t just consumed in the moment. It their roles in real time, following a script to convey
engages consumers in a theatrical performance, action and intention.
creating a lasting memory and an emotional bond.
When a person buys a service, he purchases a set

of intangible activities carried out on his behalf.
But when he buys an experience, he pays to spend
time enjoying a series of memorable events that a
company stages—as in a theatrical play—to engage
him in an inherently personal way.
B. JOSEPH PINE Il AND JAMES H. GILMORE, THE EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
ACT 2 Emotion 69
THE RISE
OF THE
EXPERIENCE
GOES
PRICE
UP
ECONOMY Higher price
for ambiance
and
extra features
EXPERIENCE
No-frills
deli coffee,
priced for
convenience
SERVICE
Lgelel cele[-rel
beans; priced for
daily use
Coffee beans;
PRODUCT
price based on
supply
olitemelTutelirel
DESIGN ADDS VALUE
COMMODITY
FROM COMMODITY TO EXPERIENCE AS a product progresses from

a mere commodity to a full-bodied experience, it employs more
design features—and becomes more expensive. An experience
is a memorable event staged like a theatrical play. Graph and
cnart adapted from Pine and Gilmore, The Experience Economy.
illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
7O DESIGN IS STORYTELLING
LIMITED EDITION
- LOLLIPOP; CHANCE
- TO WIN A GOLDEN
_ TICKET TO FACTORY
SLEEK CANDY
STORE LOCATED IN
HIGH-END MALL OR
SHOPPING DISTRICT
EXPERIENCE
SERVICE
PRODUCT
+ COMMODITY
RIPPLE EFFECT Many contemporary products combine READ MORE Albert Boswijk, Thomas Thijssen, Ed Peelen, and
aspects of services, experiences, goods, and commodities. S. B. Thomas, The Experience Economy: A New Perspective
A smartphone is a commodity (using raw materials), (Amsterdam: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007); Brenda Laurel,
wrapped inside a product (phone and basic OS), wrapped Computers as Theater (New York: Addison Wesley, 1993);
inside a service (carrier’s plan), wrapped inside an Alessandra Stanley, “A Wine of One’s Own? They'll Drink to That,”
experience (ecosystem of apps and add-ons). Illustration New York Times, July 2, 2016, http://nyti.ms/29aquZy; cited July
by Jennifer Tobias. 2, 2016.
TOOL Val
Experience Economy
SHIFTING PARADIGMS What has changed since The Experience

Economy appeared in 1998? In today’s social and digital landscape,
users play more active roles. Contemporary brands are more
participatory and less top-down.
Experiences are created when designers shift Pine and Gilmore separated services from
emphasis from objects to actions. Pine and Gilmore experiences. In practice, however, services
call this process ing the thing. Imagine a car ad and experiences tend to blur together. Once
showing a driver gliding along coastal roads and upon atime, phone systems delivered little
narrow European streets, or a promotion for a or no emotional value to their customers.
restaurant chain showing people laughing with Now, a smartphone is a product, a utility, and
friends over steaming boats of pasta, or a college a commercial platform for digital products.
brochure depicting young people from diverse Choosing a carrier and a service plan has become
backgrounds chatting thoughtfully under big a subtle process orchestrated via sophisticated
trees. Cars become driving. Food becomes dining. websites, branded retail centers, lavish
Education becomes learning. advertising, and carefully scripted sales pitches.
Like a story, an experience takes place over Another big shift is the transformation of
time. It has a beginning, middle, and end, and it experiences into two-way exchanges between
activates emotions and senses. The Experience people and products. Designers use techniques of
Economy applies Freytag’s narrative arc to a trip co-creation to involve users in shaping products
to the mall or a day at Disneyland. Pines and and places. Customers use social media to build
Gilmore adopted this narrative diagram from the meaning of brands and to conduct their
Brenda Laurel’s book Computers as Theater, which own conversations around value and identity.
uses the dramatic arc to explain human/computer Consumers have more power to punish brands that
interactions. The Experience Economy makes have objectionable business practices, political
scant reference to “design,” yet this influential views, or environmental policies.
book derives one of its core principles from Today, nearly every service is also an
design theory. The terms “experience design” and experience. Service design has become a
“user experience” (UX) have since entered the specialized field that fits business processes to
mainstream of design discourse. the needs and wants of users.
No luxury firm can ignore the accelerating

shift from “having” to “being.”
BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP, QUOTED BY ALESSANDRA STANLEY
TOOL
Emotional Journey
While a plot is the series of events that

make up a story, an emotional journey
consists of the feelings those events inspire.
Stories have highs and lows. They shift
in energy and tempo, sometimes moving
fast, sometimes moving slow. A person’s
relationship with a product or service
changes over time. Energy rises and falls
as users feel curiousity, pleasure, and
satisfaction. Users may also hit negative °
patches of doubt, frustration, and anger.
friendly bus service
A RIDE IN THE COUNTRY

ACT 2 Emotion 73
Admissions
counselor offers
alternative financing
Find summer course,
Intro to UX Design
Courses are
available at other Discount is
locations offered
Desired class Location isn’t

time is fully convenient
booked
Frustrated about
financing plan
A RIDE IN THE COUNTRY (left) Adapted from Tom Voirol, TEMPLATE (above) Ready-made templates make it easy to
“Rethinking Customer Engagement Touch Points to Deliver create journey maps to share with clients and stakeholders.
Enhanced Guest Experience and Drive,” April 10, 2014, This one is adapted from a PowerPoint template designed by
http://www.slideshare.net/readingroom/digital-hotel-guest- SlideModel, https://slidemodel.com/templates/customer-
experience-tom-voirol-at-fha2014-food-hotels-asia-conference; journey-map-diagram-powerpoint/; accessed June 6, 2016.
accessed June 4, 2016, CC Attribution.
Emotional Journey
MISERY AND Ecstasy In 1947, a young writer named Kurt Vonnegut

was studying anthropology at the University of Chicago. In his
graduate thesis, he argued that all stories can be mapped as a line
moving up and down between misery and ecstasy.
The University of Chicago rejected Vonnegut’s it. In order to help people produce those positive
thesis, but he went on to write some of the most memories, the designer plans an experience
acclaimed books of his generation, including whose emotional arc reaches points of intensity,
Slaughterhouse Five (1969) and Breakfast of similar to the peaks in a good story. The arc needs
Champions (1973). These satirical novels combine to end ina satisfying way. An appropriate ending
realism, science fiction, and deadpan wit. for an online article might be a well-curated list
Years later, Vonnegut delivered humorous of related articles; a poor ending would be a grid
lectures about the diagrams he had made as an packed with phony click bait or a pop-up window
earnest young man in graduate school. Drawing on begging for the reader’s email address.
a chalkboard, he graphed generic plots, like “Man To create an emotional journey map, designers
in the Hole” and “Boy Meets Girl.” Many stories observe users and break down their experience
start with positive emotions and then dip down into steps. Some steps in the journey are positive,
into danger and despair. A man falls in a hole while others are negative. Designer Garron
(bad fortune), and the people of the town save Engstrom explains that emotional journey maps
him (good fortune). A boy meets a wonderful girl help designers “lean in to the user’s emotions,”
(happiness), but then he loses her (misery). When anticipating lows as well as highs. Graphing
the boy and girl get back together, the graph users’ emotions is a tool for understanding and
shoots up to the top of the chart. improving a person’s relationship with a product
Designers create emotional journey maps or service. Designers can create their own formats
analogous to Vonnegut’s graphs. Curt Arledge for visualizing the customer journey, or they can
argues that an experience designer is also a download a variety of templates with preset
“memory designer.” People return to a product or options and prompts.
place because they have positive memories about
GOOD FORTUNE
BEGINNING
BAD TO WORSE In 2016, a team ofdata scientists in Vermont
put Vonnegut’s theory to a statistical test. They studied over
1,700 stories and found that their emotional arcs conformed to
six basic shapes. Yet Vonnegut’s funniest graphs are those that
fail to follow an expected pattern. In Kafka’s Metamorphosis,
a miserable, unpopular young man who hates his job and
dislikes his family wakes up one day to discover, alas, that he is ILL
a cockroach. His story starts low and keeps sinking lower. The FORTUNE
graph never ever ticks up.

ACT 2 Emotion 75
KURT
VONNEGUT'S
EMOTIONAL
GOOD FORTUNE
JOURNEY
BEGINNING
MAN IN THE HOLE
Man falls in the hole.
The people of the
village rescue him.
ILL FORTUNE
BOY MEETS GIRL

Boy meets girl, loses
her, and gets her back.
CINDERELLA
Sad, orphaned girl
can’t go to the ball. She
gets help from Fairy
Godmother, attends the
ball, loses her slipper, and
marries the prince.
READ MORE Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country design-how-to-design-for-experiences-that-

(Random House, 2005); Geoffrey Johnson, “Kurt last/?ref=mybridge.co; accessed September 2, 2016;
Vonnegut in Chicago: Some Footnotes,” ChicagoMag. Garron Engstrom, “Principles of Emotional Design,”
com (March 19, 2012), http://www.chicagomag. http://www.slideshare.net/garronet/principles-
com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/March-2012/ of-emotional-design (July 25, 2015); accessed
Kurt-Vonnegut-in-Chicago-Some-Footnotes/; June 4, 2016; Neil Gains, “User Journey Maps,”
accessed June 4, 2016; Curt Arledge, “User Memory DoctorDisruption.com (July 18, 2014), http://www.
Design: How to Design for Experiences That Last,” doctordisruption.com/design/design-methods-21-
Smashing Magazine, August 1, 2016, https://www. user-journey-maps/; accessed June 4, 2016.
smashingmagazine.com/2016/08/user-memory-
Emotional Journey
pain points Where are the highs and lows in the story of
Cinderella? How does the story end? Imagine that Cinderella’s
fairy godmother is a digital product. What ratings would this
fictional app earn for customer experience?
Emotional journey maps are useful for finding A service designer or product designer will
pain points and communicating results. “The map be hard-pressed to restore Fairy Godmother’s
should honestly reflect the reality of interactions five-star rating after Cinderella returns to her
with a business,” says usability expert Neil life of drudgery. Perhaps Fairy Godmother can
Gains, “including the good and the bad, and compensate with a new perk or special feature,
moments of indecision, confusion, frustration, such as a lost-and-found service that uses GPS
delight, neutrality, and closure.” Journey maps tracking to return missing possessions to their
often follow the experience of a typical persona, rightful owners. (After Cinderella gets her slipper
identifying touchpoints between user and back, she opens her own 3D-printed custom
product, from first learning about it to getting it shoe shop and lives happily ever after in financial
and trying it. independence.)
Let’s turn Vonnegut’s graph of the Cinderella Stories without conflict are dull. Although
story into a map of customer satisfaction. users don't expect to experience terror or rage
Cinderella starts out miserable: she has during a trip to a furniture store or a ride home
nothing to wear and she can't go to the ball, froma party, their journey shouldn't be flat.
so she downloads the Fairy Godmother app. Waiting two hours for a flight to Denver is a low-
Fairy Godmother gets five stars for the shoes, energy experience; boarding the flight with a huge
the dress, and the tiara. Fairy Godmother’s backpack and a cranky boyfriend requires high
transportation arrangements get high marks, energy. Restaurants and airports fill wait times
too—she turns a herd of mice and a big pumpkin with breadsticks and newsstands so people never
into an elegant horse and carriage. The customer get bored. Arledge says that brief slowdowns in
journey takes a nosedive, however, when the clock a digital processs can indicate that the system is
starts striking twelve. Cinderella rushes down working (“optimizing your file,” “reviewing your
the stairs to the parking lot, losing a glass slipper request”), thus conveying quality. Designers can
along the way. The magical carriage turns back create value from moments of rest, reflection,
into an ordinary pumpkin. and anticipation.
Creating emotional high points might just

mean the difference between a product that’s
perceived as smooth but forgettable and one
that’s flawed but awesome and leaves people
with a lasting positive impression.
CURT ARLEDGE, “USER MEMORY DESIGN”
ACT 2 Emotion TE
ECSTASY +) EMOTIONAL Fairy Godmother creates
JOURNEY— a new Lost-and-Found

app. Cinderella gets
THE FAIRY her shoe back, opens a
custom 3D-printed shoe
GODMOTHER shop, and is financially
APP
independent ever after.
Fairy Godmother
turns some mice
and a pumpkin
into a sweet ride.
Fairy
Godmother
creates an
amazing party
outfit for
Cinderella.
ie)
Cinderella
downloads At midnight, Fairy
the Fairy Godmother’s
Godmother customer satisfaction
app. rating drops.
Cinderella loses her
Cinderella has
glass slipper, and the
a miserable life,
carriage turns back
and she can’t go
into a pumpkin.
to the ball.
MISERY © Illustration by Yi Pan

Emotional Journey
HOT AND coLp Where are the points of greatest intensity in an

experience? How does an experience end? Highs and lows
contribute to how people remember—and even—a product,
service, or performance.
How an experience comes to a finish affects how In a study of pain, subjects placed one hand
people judge the overall event. Psychologist Daniel in cold water for sixty seconds. Then they did the
Kahneman calls this phenomenon the peak-end same thing again, but this time for thirty seconds
rule. The most intense part of an experience longer. During that extra half-minute, however, the
(the peak) as well as the conclusion (the end) water gradually warmed up, giving the experience
influences whether people would choose to repeat a happier ending. Asked to repeat one of the two
that experience in the future. This phenomenon sessions, subjects chose the longer one, which
has been observed in various situations, from seemed less uncomfortable to them because it had
waiting in line for theater tickets to taking a ended well.
vacation or getting a colonoscopy. Waiting in Experience designers pay special attention
line makes people irritable and annoyed; if the to how an action concludes, offering a bit of
line starts moving quickly toward the end ofthe emotional bling to reward users for their time
process, however, people will view the whole and effort, such as applying a discount code at
experience more favorably. checkout and seeing their bill magically decrease.
BETTER
60 seconds 60 seconds
in cold water in cold water
plus 30 seconds
in warm water Illustration by Jennifer Tobias
ACT 2 Emotion
WwW)
EMOTIONAL IMPACT DIAGRAM Solid Light, Inc. is an exhibition READ MORE Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New
design firm located in Louisville, Kentucky. The firm uses York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015); Cynthia Torp, “Mapping
“emotional engagement mapping” to plan a visitor’s journey Visitor Emotions to Make a Lasting Connection,” Center for the
through an exhibition. According to Cynthia Torp, “Emotional Future of Museums, June 27, 2017, http://futureofmuseums.
mapping lays out the ebb and flow of the story, striking blogspot.com/2017/06/mapping-visitor-emotions-to-make.
the balance of making the story come alive by helping html?m=1; accessed July 19, 2017. Illustration by Ben Jett,
visitors process the information so it impacts them without Creative Director, Solid Light, Inc.
overwhelming them—or worse, leaving them feeling nothing.”
EMOTIONAL IMPAC
DIAGRAM Ee
| DIDACTIC EMOTIONAL
ACTH?) Emotion 81
| Birst Bull|Run
Manassas)
(WalyanhBX)!
HENRY,
jOUSE"
Atlanta
July 22, 1864 Wie i
Sherman's March
November
December
i
JEFFERSON DAVIS
CAPTURED.
if “Union Captu
\)|, of Richmond
‘SURRENDERS
THEMATIC BUBBLE
DIAGRAM
EMOTIONAL IMPACT DIAGRAM A team of designers, curators, Jett also created a bubble diagram that indicates the exhibition’s
and historians set out to create a major exhibition about the main themes. The heat map and bubble map allowed the team
U.S. Civil War for the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, to plan where the exhibition’s peak areas of conflict and drama
Virginia. The team sought to present a more personal view of an would occur—and where visitors would be able to step back and
historic event that is usually represented in military and political pause. The tools also helped the team plan their use of resources
terms. Ben Jett, creative director at Solid Light, Inc., had tried and invest more project funds in the areas of greatest impact.
various ways to graph emotional journeys. Here, he decided to \llustrations by Ben Jett, Creative Director, Solid Light, Inc.
map the intensity of the exhibition layout with a heat map.
TOOL
Co-creation
When developing a new product, service,

or app, designers often seek knowledge from
users. Co-creation activities range from
evaluating existing solutions to generating
new ideas. In co-creation, designers work with
users in order to understand the context of
a project and learn how new solutions could
improve people’s lives. When users play an
active role in the design process, they become
expert witnesses to a human task or challenge.
A range of exercises—from focus groups
to brainstorming sessions—help prompt
discussion, stimulate creative thinking, and
build empathy between designers and users.
Co-creation
empatuy The ability to recognize and share the mental states of

others is called empathy. Designers often create content and
services for people unlike themselves. Designers develop empathy
through role playing, interviews, and observation.
A novel or film builds empathy by transporting they fit, rather than reflecting the order in which
readers into someone else’s frame of mind, letting nurses use them and the space required for using
an audience see life through the eyes of an heiress, them properly. (The packaging includes a tray
an orphan, or a refugee. Empathy enables people that provides a sterile work area for this bedside
to work together and construct societies for mutual procedure.)
benefit. Empathy is essential for human civilization, Adler recalls, “The new package that we
and it is the linchpin of user-centered design. designed worked well, but the nurses were tossing
Deborah Adler runs a design firm in New York away the patient education part of the kit.” So she
City that specializes in healthcare products. She added an illustrated, Hallmark-type card with the
shadows nurses to understand their points of patient information inside, printed on luxurious,
view. “Nurses,” she says, “are my teachers.” In one uncoated stock. The card is placed where it can’t
project, Adler was commissioned by a maker of be missed, and is now less likely to be overlooked.
medical supplies to redesign their packaging for a It is special and personal, and nurses don’t throw
urinary catheter. Her new package aimed to reduce it away. Patients put the card on the bedside table,
the high rate of hospital infections associated with where it also serves to educate the family. “By
this common procedure. Adler began by talking touch alone, the card was perceived as a thing of
with nurses and observing them at work. She value for the patient,” Adler says. “We transformed
learned that the old packaging was awkward and patient education from something forbidding into
illogical—the tools were crammed in wherever something welcome.”
PATIENT EDUCATION When Deborah Adler redesigned Medline’s

Foley Catheter packaging, she presented instructional
informaton for patients on a card printed in full color on
beautiful paper. The card was valued by patients, families,
and nurses, supporting crucial patient learning. Illustration by
Jennifer Tobias.
ACT 2 Emotion
85
DEANA MCDONAGH'S GUIDE

TO EMPATHIC DESIGN
a
photos * Oo
design
surveys
solution
movies
background go inspiration
é x
aie Do transcripts
notes
oo) insight
eee
(Le
al
ES
a
sketches
user designer increased empathy
and understanding
background user contact data collection transform data into design incubation design outcomes
relevant information
DESIGNING EMPATHY Deana McDonagh’s diagram of the

design process includes users at the earliest phases of
research. She has explored numerous ways that designers can
build empathy with users, including photographic and video
documentation, surveys and questionnaires, and sketches
observed in the field. Illustration by Deana McDonagh.
86 TOOL
Co-creation
RECALL, ANALYZE, AND INVENT CO-Creation encompasses numerous

modes of participation. Users might describe their own situations,
analyze a problem, or propose new solutions. Dissecting prior
experiences and current beliefs primes users to imagine the future.
A participatory design session often begins with CO-CREATION |Warm-up Exercises

uncovering people’s desires and opinions about SURVEY OR QUESTIONNAIRE Each participant answers questions
a life activity, such as taking the bus, visiting a ona worksheet at the beginning of the event. Types of question
museum, or feeding a cat. A group conversation is include multiple choice, rankings, and short answers. The survey
preceded by one or more quick warm-up activities; can also be used to collect demographic information.
these are often completed individually, not in DIARY OR JOURNAL Ask participants to record the elements
teams. “Homework” done prior to the session can ofa routine activity, such as “feeding cat” or “commuting to
also be helpful, such as filling in a diary or survey, work.” The diary could also span an entire day, such as tracking
participants’ interactions with their pets from dawn to bedtime,
or photographing a living or work space.
or tracking all modes of transit used in a single day. If completed
After warming up and briefly discussing the as “homework,” photos can be used as well as text.
results, the group can now tackle a larger activity.
MOOD BOARD Designers often collect a patchwork of references
Some activities are analytical, such as listing the
to set the tone of a project. Called mood boards, such
pros and cons of a given solution or telling stories collections can also help focus groups communicate visually
about real or imagined scenarios. about a subject. The process can be freeform, using magazines
Marketing teams often ask focus groups to or old books as random source material, or more structured,
respond to a given product or concept. Typical using images preselected by the design team.
activities include comparing or ranking proposed WORD MAP To begin the exercise, each participant writes a topic
solutions, or evaluating the cultural associations or at the center of a page. In a process ofquick free association,
emotional appeal of a new design. In order to seek participants draw or write associated concepts to create
clusters of ideas. Diagram by Erica Holeman.
more creative input from users, designers work as
peers and equals within communities. The user
becomes an expert in the subject being studied. 7 Washing —laating eke fitting
Building this relationship requires tools that Lean.

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stimulate creativity and inspire users to generate ab : ny pooh < ‘
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READ MORE Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers, Nn cS aes Shapes + wea’ Bepwdin
Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of
ia y “i
Design (Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2012); Joe Langford and
Deana McDonagh (2003) “Focus Group Tools,” in Focus Groups:
pation
Ourdich x es
| iAnal x ‘ urkern ah7
ee
Supporting Effective Product Development, Langford and SPeciad OH TAS Purteprrond-
McDonagh (London: Taylor and Francis, 2003), 173-224. ifmS /
ACT 2 Emotion 87
CO-CREATION | Creative Thinking Exercises
PROS
How
WE <éT
Migu4r SAVE
$
ae
PLANET
MORE PEOPLE
To TAKE
THE BUS pose Veecera| | for
|haerce| | MEET
Bike | |PEOPLE
TO WoRK ? BuS
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES This exercise looks at forces that cons. The group generates lists of positive forces (“save money,”
are hindering and helping a desired change, such as “getting “save planet”) and negative forces (“buying tickets is hard,” “bus
more people to take the bus to work.” The moderator draws is often late”). The activity helps the team recognize and address
a chart with two columns: helping and hindering, or pros and the pain points in a process.
a ee a
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fohdibek cell (amtes!|
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FIRST-PERSON NARRATIVE Participants imagine ) Sp = = aaa
an ideal product or system by describing how they | \ >
would use it in real life. (“The bus stops in front of my \ \ is ee:
favorite coffee shop. Once an hour, a bus arrives that .* igi es,
is reserved for cyclists. There is room on the bus for ji.
everyone’s bike.”)
STINKY) WET SMELLS LIKE

KR 1 Araranpms
| WouLDT= apy
ASSOCIATION Here, participants assign emotions or BAT THIS Mog . mae
personalities to a product or idea. This can be done SUKT \ aan cat oe areas
by free-associating or by matching the product with A Car F000f PTE :
a set of cards printed with words or pictures. a
SS ag
illustrations by Jennifer Tobias
Co-creation
INVENTING A BETTER CAT FEEDER Talking to users about an automatic

cat feeder revealed insights about humans, cats, and smelly
food. Users shared their opinions, exposed their emotions, and
discovered potential problems with the proposed design.
Eric Lima and Alan Wolf are proud cat lovers. the middle of the night, no more worries about
They are also professors at The Cooper Union working late or going away for the weekend.
School of Engineering in New York City. They had Participants also pondered the emotional needs
an idea for a new automatic cat feeder. They of their feline companions. Would the feeder be
saw that most existing products on the market scary? Could it greet the cat with voice messages
are designed for dispensing dry food, but none from its special humans? Would cats attack the
was successfully serving wet food. (Wet food is a unit and tamper with the food packets stored
healthier choice for cats but makes a bigger mess inside? Overall, participants thought the machine
for humans.) Wolf and Lima have invented an would function better for both cats and people if it
app-controlled cat feeder that will open a sealed were used every day, not just on special occasions.
package of food (ensuring that the food is served The design team—hearing that cat owners
fresh) and then move the discarded portion to an expected to use the device on a daily basis—
enclosed area for disposal later (ensuring that the knew that the machine would have to be small
uneaten food doesn’t sit out all day). The inventors enough to leave out all the time without taking
created a working prototype of the device in their over the kitchen. The focus groups revealed that
engineering lab, but to make the product real they cat owners, especially those with higher incomes,
sought to collaborate with professional designers. were interested in the automatic feeder once
Lima and Wolf brought their prototype to Stuart they knew that it would be clean, safe, compact,
Harvey Lee, founder ofthe industrial design firm and convenient. (Thus the product’s success will
Prime Studio, who insisted that the next step in the depend on customer education.)
design process was to get feedback from users. If designed well, the new cat feeder could be
First, the team engaged a market research firm to more than a gadget. It could make feedings easier
conduct an online survey, posing general questions for humans while creating a healthy and consistent
to four hundred cat owners. Next, the design team routine for kitties. The app could educate owners
held a series of in-person focus groups, where they about how much to feed their cats. And wait,
showed participants drawings of potential designs there’s more! Equipped with a webcam, the
for the new cat feeder. product could send confirmation photos when
Some participants were skeptical about using meals are successfully delivered and devoured.
an automatic feeder until they heard others talking And maybe it could snap cat selfies, too—adding
about its potential merits—no more sticky, stinky an extra helping of emotional delight to a practical
food bowls to handle, no more wake-up yowls in pet-care product.
| sleep less now that | have a cat. rocus croup participant

ACT 2 Emotion 89
DIARY OF A
FOCUS GROUP
Cat owners said they want
to use the device not just when
they go away for a few days
but during the week and on
weekends. (Cats like to eat
very early in the morning,
when many humans would
rather be sleeping.)
Many people are grossed

out by wet cat food. Yet
wet food is healthier
for
cats than dry food.
Participants also
expressed worry and
confusion about how
much food they were
supposed to give their
cats.
Participants who
pay a cat sitter to
visit their homes
were willing to pay
more for the device
than those who
rely on free help
from roommates or
neighbors.
Participants were concerned

about paying extra for specially
packaged food, yet some
admitted that they didn’t really
know how much they were
spending now on cat food.
Some participants felt that if

the feeder was used every day,
the cats wouldn’t be scared
by the machine or get anxious
about their humans preparing
to leave.
USER Focus The design team conducted four focus groups about
their concept for an app-enabled automatic cat feeder. They
went to pet stores at peak hours to find potential participants,
talking to ten times as many people as they ultimately recruited.
Product design by Eric Lima, Alan Wolf, and Prime Studio.
Illustration by Jennifer Tobias. Product rendering by Jochen
Schaepers, Prime Studio.
TOOL
Persona
An archetypal user of a product or service is

called a persona. Like a character in a novel or
film, each persona is trying to get something
done. Design teams use personas to imagine
how different people with different desires
and abilities will experience your tool or
service. The characteristics of a persona can
include general demographics (such as gender,
age, and income) as well as specific quirks and
interests (such as collecting antique cars or
growing heirloom melons). The most valuable
personas are based on observing real people.
Personas play starring roles in scenarios, short
stories built around achieving a specific goal.
PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS When Emily Joynton set out to create

a narrative comic about living with her intense roommates in
Miami, she began by creating portraits of each character. Her
portraits use words and images to build up an understanding
of the person. Illustration by Emily Joynton.
:
ACT 2 Emotion
LEASE WAS UP
AND Nico DECIDED
to Move gut, THERE
WAS A LOT OF MiSCOM—
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MUNICATION AND RESE
NT ME NT iNV OLV ED in THE
PROCESS. LONG STORY SHORT: \
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Persona
PEOPLE WITH Goats The process of creating personas and scenarios

helps a design team work with their users in mind and build
empathy. What do people actually want? What will enhance their
lives? What challenges do they face?
One persona is not enough. Design teams create limited hand strength. If aproduct or service can
several personas in order to think about a range be valuable to extreme users, then it will likely
of users. These personas become archetypes work for those with more middle-ground interests
representing different needs, abilities, and levels of and abilities.
interest. Naming the personas makes them more The design team creates a document that tells
real and memorable. Critiquing design solutions a story about each persona, giving them names,
from the perspectives of different personas helps backgrounds, and visual portraits. Like characters
designers think beyond their personal likes and in a movie or short story, personas are active. They
dislikes or their own creative investment in a given have behaviors and values, desires and hangups.
concept and begin to see it from a user’s point of They shouldn't be sterotypical. Designer Christof
view (“What would Rob do?”). Zurn created the Persona Core Poster, a template
At the start of a project, designers, for creating user profiles. Turn the page to see
ethnographers, or researchers talk with users and our template, a simpler worksheet created for
observe them in different settings. They compile beginners, inspired by Zurn’s work.
their observations and then look for patterns The use of personas in the design process was
within the data. How do shared issues or interests invented by Alan Cooper, a pioneer in the field
form into clusters? When will users need extra help of interaction design and cofounder of Cooper in
achieving their goals? San Franscisco. Alan Cooper’s first persona was a
The “nuclear family” depicted in vintage TV project manager named Kathy, a fictional character
commercials is rare in modern life and never based on a real worker he had interviewed while
reflected broad social realities. Designers at IDEO developing a complex piece of office software in
recommend considering “extreme users” as well as 1983. As he was producing the software, Cooper
so-called “average” ones. A person who is deeply found himself having imaginary conversations with
obsessed with a subject—such as video games, Kathy inside his head. By asking her about her
gardening, or grilling whole pigs—will enjoy talking needs and actions in different situations, he was
about their passion and will have surprising ideas. able to make the software more useful. Cooper
Important insights will also come from a person continued to create personas and described the
who has an impairment, such as low vision or method in his influential book, The Inmates Are
READ MORE Schlomo Goltz, “A Closer Look at Personas and How https://www.cooper.com/journal/2017/4/the_origin_of_personas;
They Work,” Smashing Magazine (August 6, 2014), https://www. accessed July 9, 2017; Alan Cooper, The Inmates Are Running
smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas- the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How
part-1/; accessed July 8, 2017; Alicia Clegg, “Harnessing the to Restore Sanity (London: Sams-Pearson Education, 2004);
Power of Extreme Customers,” Financial Times (January 6, “Scenarios,” Information & Design, http://infodesign.com.au/
2014), https://www.ft.com/content/f7256696-746e-11e3-9125- usabilityresources/scenarios/; accessed July 9, 2017.
00144feabdco?mhqsj=e2; accessed July 8, 2017; Alan Cooper,
“The Origin of Personas,” Cooper.com (May 5, 2008),
ACT 2 Emotion 93
Running the Asylum. Cooper says, “Personas, about every button a user pushes or how many
like all powerful tools, can be grasped in an menus and dialogue boxes they open, the scenario
instant but can take months or years to master.” focuses on the main purpose of each action. For
With practice, they become powerful devices for example, “Beth searches online for a Chinese
thinking about design problems; they also help cooking class. She can’t find a course that meets
designers talk about their process with team on the weekends, but she finds one that meets on
members and clients. Tuesday nights; she enrolls.” Different personas
Once the design team has created personas, will have different scenarios: “Bill, who uses a
it’s time to write scenarios—short narrative wheelchair, wants to take cooking lessons near
sketches in which characters seek to fulfill a public transit. The app doesn’t say whether the
goal, such as registering for a cooking class or classes are accessible, so he has to call each
finding a bus schedule. Scenarios are concise provider until he finds one.”
and schematic. Rather than going into detail
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? Illustrator Emily Joynton is an

avid observer. When she sketched her classmates during a
grad school lecture, some students were writing and taking
notes, while others were more passive. A designer creating
an educational product would want to spend time observing
people learning and teaching. Illustration by Emily Joynton.
Persona
sTupy HaBiTs We Created personas for three archetypal users of

FlashKard, a hypothetical learning app for middle school students.
Each learner has different abilities, obstacles, and goals. Their
scenarios describe the context for achieving their goals.
PERSONA + SCENARIO WORKSHEET

NAME DESCRIPTION
Pick a name that is easy to remember. Name a trait, such as The Hoarder, The Explorer, or The Maker.
BACKSTORY
List characteristics and experiences such as education, nationality, work history, hobbies, and family life.
RESOURCES
Is the persona an expert or a novice? What abilities or resources do they have, and what obstacles do they face?
EMOTIONS
How does the persona feel about the challenge? Anxious or confident, excited or bored?
GOALS
What action does the persona want to complete?
SCENARIO
Write and/or sketch a scenario about how the persona accomplishes their goal.
PERSONA WORKSHEET Inspired by “The Persona Core Poster,” Creative Companion (May 5, 2011), https://
creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/. Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike.
ACT 2 Emotion 95
ROB | THE BUILDER

BACKSTORY Rob lives in a small apartment with his grandmother, a registered nurse.
RESOURCES Rob enjoys STEM subjects and wants to design bridges when he grows up.
Rob has a mobile phone but no computer at home. He would rather draw maps and
diagrams and build models than listen to lectures.
EMOTIONS Rob is very confident and sometimes impatient. He makes careless mistakes
and forgets to check his work.
GOAL Rob wants to study for a statewide math competition.
SCENARIO Rob always finishes early during class. During his extra time, he makes
FlashKards of the problems hejust completed. Creating the cards is fun, and it gives
him a chance to check his work and find mistakes.
LISA | THE CHAMP

BACKSTORY Lisa is a competitive runner. She lives with two parents, two siblings, and
two dogs in a two-story townhouse.
RESOURCES Lisa plans to be a varsity athlete in high school. She dreams of a college
sports scholarship. Lisa often travels long hours on the bus with her team and has to be
at school early to train. In class, she is often sleepy or physically restless.
EMOTIONS Lisa is anxious about her prechemistry course. She believes she is “bad at
science” and will never succeed at STEM subjects.
GOAL Lisa wants to find more time to study while keeping up with her training.
SCENARIO Lisa creates FlashKards after she finishes each homework problem. On the
morning of the test, she turns on the app’s audio screen-reading feature and listens to
her FlashKards during her morning run and on the team bus.
$00-JIN | THE FARMER

BACKSTORY Soo-Jin recently moved to the U.S. from Korea with her parents. Their
apartment complex has a community garden.
RESOURCES Soo-Jin likes growing vegetables and being outdoors. She plans to become
a climate scientist. Soo-Jin has impaired hearing and wears hearing aids. She excels at
math and science once she has mastered a concept, but she finds lectures challenging.
EMOTIONS She feels overwhelmed when the classroom is loud. She sometimes
struggles with English and feels isolated.
GOAL Soo-Jin wants to study outdoors with other people.
SCENARIO Soo-Jin and a classmate make FlashKards together and play games to learn
Illustrations by Irina Mir them. Soo-Jin uses the app’s translation feature to reinforce the meaning of new words.
Persona
Character Studies From beauty products to tech gadgets, every

product has a personality. Materials, colors, shapes, and
graphics engage the senses, influence our behavior, and tell
stories about social identity.
Characters are the driving force of stories. Ifa

product or brand was a character, what would it
say and how would it move? Would its voice be
girlish or vampy, silly or maternal? Would it run,
jump, dance, saunter, or lie on its back and wag its
tail? People instinctively assign personality traits
to inanimate things. Shape, color, texture, and
materials contribute to a product’s personality. So
does brand language, from the product’s name to
the mountains of copy that explain and promote
it. Behavior matters, too. A gold smartphone
or a fancy sports car begs to be pampered and
WATER Berrle
protected; a paperback book or a family minivan
invites casual use. Designers can explore and refine
a product’s personality throughout their process.
Can a plastic water bottle achieve status as a
sustainable product? The designers of Fred, a line
of bottled water, sought to create a form factor
SO appealing, people would save and reuse the :
bottle instead of throwing it away. Fred is shaped >
like a “hip flask,” a reusable container designed for
stashing whiskey or bourbon in a man’s pants or TS Porear-ERiewPLn BeTrié is
jacket pocket. Thus Fred’s handy, functional shape REFILLABLE & CECI LE
invokes the subversive pleasures of an intimate
masculine subculture. The product’s name—set
in four letters of solid, American gothic type—
amplifies the manly vernacular of the brand. Fred is
relaxed, manly, and (maybe) sustainable.
READ MORE Ruth Mugge, Pascale C. M. Govers, and Jan P.

L. Schoormans, “The development and testing of a product
personality scale,” Design Studies 30 (2009): 287-302. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
ACT 2 Emotion 97
PRODUCT
PERSONALITY
PROFILE—
TWO WIRELESS
SPEAKERS A warm, dimmable
LED light inside the
glass cylinder resembles
a candle flame; this
product is expensive.
Zipper allows
users to change
the bright cover;
this product
is moderately
priced.
Libratone ZIPP Mini SONY Glass

wireless speaker wireless speaker
AGE 25 45
— OCCUPATION programmer fashion buyer
a HOUSING urban apartment 3-bedroom townhouse
7, TRANSIT bicycle BMW
= | PERSONALITY dynamic/extrovert organized
i——d VACATION hiking Euro-camping
e HOME STYLE IKEA and thrift upscale contemporary
ra~) CLOTHING jeans and vintage Club Monaco
PERSONALITY TEST How Can you understand a product’s to them, or for someone quite different? Finally, would the
personality? Try asking users what they think. Give participants personality profile encourage the particpant to choose or reject
a questionnaire featuring images of various items, such asa the product? Use the questionnaire as the basis of a longer
car, a coffee maker, or an audio device. The questionnaire asks discussion. Diagram adapted from A. Bruesberg and Deana
them to imagine the intended user of each product and conjure McDonagh-Philp, “New product development by eliciting user
a lifestyle surrounding it. How old is this person? Where would experience and emotions,” /nternational Journal of Human
they spend their vacations? What job would they have? Where Computer Studies 55 (2001): 435-52. Illustration by Jennifer
would they live? Was the product designed for a person similar Tobias.
WHAT GENDER IS IT?
Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias

TOOL og)
Persona
His, Hers, or Theirs? Some products are designed for everyone, with
no special features evoking masculine or feminine personality
stereotypes or social norms. When designers assign gender
qualities to a product, they might make it more appealing to
some users—but risk excluding others.
Lip balm used to be a product designed for The color pink wasn’t always associated with
everyone. A slim, black tube of Chapstick is a the female sex. In the United States, pink became
neutral, utilitarian commodity. Yet women are popular for women during the presidency of
more likely than men to purchase lip balm. The Dwight D. Eisenhower. His wife, Mamie Eisenhower,
founders of EOS (Evolution of Smooth) decided to caused a fashion sensation when she wore a
appeal directly to female users by delivering lip pink gown to the 1952 inaugural ball. A few pink
batm in a new format. EOS has a sculptural shape products have evaded gender tyranny, including
that feels good in the hands and is easy to find strawberry ice cream, fiberglass insulation, and
inside a big handbag. Pepto-Bismol, the creamy cure-all for indigestion.
While EOS addresses the desires of a specific Names for everything from house paint to eye
audience, some people object to the idea of shadow can contain the seeds of a story. Designer
creating products for specific genders. Such Franki Abraham points out that names for nail
products can alienate people who identify as polish colors often say more about character and
nonbinary. Others feel that gendered products are action than about the colors inside the bottles.
wasteful and reinforce stereotypes. MUJI is one Nail polish is worn and enjoyed by persons of
of several brands that create beautiful self-care any gender, but the cosmetics industry tends to
products that are gender neutral. presume a female subject.
STARTER BREAKING 95%

WIFE THE LAW ANGEL
SUGAR CAKE BY keto}

FIX THE OCEAN OVERBOARD
LIP BALM PERSONAS NAIL POLISH NARRATIVES
LIP CARE FOR LADIES In focus groups, women reported that READ MORE Elizabeth Segran, “The Untold Story of How Lip
their tiny tubes of Chapstick often went missing in the cavernous Balm Upstart EOS Outdid Chapstick,” Fast Company, October
depths of their purses. Women were interested in applying 19, 2016; https://www.fastcompany.com/3063333/startup-
lip balm from a pot rather than a stick, but using their fingers report/the-untold-story-of-how-lip-balm-upstart-eos-outdid-
seemed unhygienic. EOS founder Sanjiv Mehra says, “The chapstick; accessed December 29, 2016; Jennifer Wright, “How
products that women depend on every day should deliver did pink become a girly color?” Vox (14 April 2015), https://
moments of delight that elevate these daily routines.” Pretty www.vox.com/2015/4/14/8405889/pink-color-gender; accessed
colors, exotic flavors, and themed collections make the product August 1, 2017.
fun to use and keep customers interested.
Every moment of every day, millions of

people around the world are communicating
with emoji. These digital images of people,
things, and tasty snacks originated in Japan,
where teenagers in the 1990s went wild
exchanging bit-mapped symbols on their
pagers and flip phones. Today, many operating
systems and native apps for iOS and Android
have custom emoji fonts. A panel of Unicode
officials decides whether new emoji can be
admitted to the pantheon. Proposals are
rejected if—among other criteria—they are
too specific (“spicy tuna” rather than “sushi”
in general), too trendy (“Brooklyn beard”),
or too branded (“Adidas,” “Nike,” or “Jimmy
Choo”). Creating expressive icon systems fuels
a broader area of design practice.
ACT 2 Emotion 101
rm "cuisine lili!
OO id
aw
———
HAND-PAINTED EMOJI Type designer Colin Ford is fascinated by READ MORE Colin Ford, “Emoji: A Lovely History” (May 13,
the history of emoji and their unique design potential. Straddling 2016), https://medium.com/making-faces-and-other-emoji/
the space between type and image, these tiny characters enrich emoji-a-lovely-history-1062de3645dd; accessed July 25, 2017;
conversation in a society of constant texting. Ford has begun “submitting Emoji Proposals,” http://unicode.org/emoji/
creating his own family of hand-painted emoji. Shown here are selection.html; accessed July 25, 2017.
the first nine. He has approximately 2,657 more characters to go.
ve ®
ollie
see
es
TRASH BOT (above) Wael Morcos and Jon Key designed this ARTHUR (right) Eddie Opara designed Arthur as a character
character for the exhibition See, Hear, Play: Designing with that communicates information about energy consumption and
Sound, organized by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Musem. the environment on kiosks installed throughout an elementary
Morcos and Key created a kit of parts to illustrate the different school. When students ask Arthur simple questions, Arthur
emotional states of this imaginary street-cleaning machine. displays the answers on his screen. His color and facial
The character and icon set were designed to accompany an expression change depending on how much energy the school is
interactive sound-design activity. The designers used simple consuming and how much students have been interacting with
geometric shapes to express different emotional states. As Trash him. The color palette maps intuitively to Arthur’s moods. His
Bot consumes more bottles and cans, the creature’s body gets simple face consists of two dots and a surprisingly expressive
taller. Design by Wael Morcos and Jon Key, Morcos Key. line. Design by Eddie Opara, Pentagram.
ACT 2 Emotion 103
~
we
Ss
aS
BAD MOOD GOOD MOOD we
¢
HIGH LEVELS
OF USER z HAPPY
INTERACTION
grumpy cheerful very happy
annoyed neutral cheerful
LOW LEVELS
OF USER
INTERACTION
& :
annoyed a bit down
S
a HIGH ENERGY LOW ENERGY
<
VV
CONSUMPTION CONSUMPTION
we ee As
25 26 27 28 29
g more ®
ag this month
thonlostmonth
TOOL
Color and Emotion
Red can represent love and sexuality or

violence and bloodshed. It can also mean
stop, do not enter, or rejected password. In
addition to conveying such culturally specific
meanings, color can trigger responses that
seem hardwired in the human psyche.
Combining color and emotion is a powerful
storytelling tool. Color creates a sensory
impression that reflects mood and emotion.
A color climate that is clean and bright
feels different from one that is airy and
pale or muted and dark. Designers explore
color’s cultural context, narrative content,
and psychological effects in order to alter
the meaning of an image, environment, or
product—and change its impact on users.
ACT 2 Emotion 105
WESTERN FAIRY TALES: GREEK MYTHOLOGY: CHINA AND JAPAN: SHINTO RELIGION (JAPAN):
LOVE, SEXUAL MATURITY MARS, GOD OF WAR LOVE, LUCK, HAPPINESS LIFE
REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIA: UNITED STATES: CHINA, INDIA, AND NEPAL: GLOBAL ISO STANDARDS:
SOCIALIST STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY BRIDAL WEAR STOP, DO NOT ENTER
NATIONAL FLAGS: BLOOD WORLDWIDE: BLOOD OF WORLDWIDE: FIRE GERMANY, POLAND, RUSSIA:
SHED FOR INDEPENDENCE THE COCHINEAL BEETLE FEAR, JEALOUSY
READ MORE Victoria Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the

Palette (New York: Random House, 2002); Zena O'Connor,
Colour Symbolism: Individual, Cultural, and Universal (Sydney KOREA: LOVE, ADVENTURE, WORLDWIDE:
Australia: Design Research Associates, 2015); Ruben Pater, GOOD TASTE COCA COLA
The Politics of Design (Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 2016).

CLEAN WELL GREENSHIELD EMG FROSCH BIO SPIRIT
BOTANICAL DISINFECTANT LAUNDRY DETERGENT MULTIPURPOSE CLEANER WINDOW CLEANER
Healisieitys
: i ae suse
ECO-ME NATURAL ECOVER GREAT VALUE NATURAL SUN CHIPS FRENCH ONION
CLEANING SPRAY MULTIPURPOSE SPRAY LAUNDRY DETERGENT WHOLE GRAIN CHIPS
PURITY GREEN DR EARTH SEVENTH GENERATION PURITY PRODUCTS

AUTO WASH EXOTIC BLEND PREMIUM SOIL FREE AND CLEAR TAMPONS NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
GREEN CUISINE TLC METHOD KIDS SIMPLE GREEN

PACKAGED RICE DINNER MULTIPURPOSE SPRAY SQUEAKY GREEN BODY SOAP ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER
TOOL 107
Color and Emotion
WHAT DOES GREEN MEAN? [he color green means life and plenitude
pretty much anywhere on Earth where plants grow. In product
marketing, the color green is a symbol of ecosensitivity and care
for the environment.
Greenwashing is the practice of using language, Could looking at a picture of a verdant

color, and other branding elements to convince landscape help a person heal? The health of
consumers that a product is healthy for people patients in a psychiatric ward improved when
or good for the environment. Shades ofgreen photos of landscapes were hung on the walls
have become so strongly linked to earth-friendly, in place of abstract art or nothing at all. (Take
nontoxic products, some consumers buy goods in that, Kandinsky.) Watching videos of nature not
green packages without reading the fine print. The only helped patients deal with pain and remain
color alone has an emotional impact, providing optimistic about their conditions but helped them
a gentle “nudge” to buy. Filling a green plastic lower their blood pressure and heart rates.
bottle with detergent or window cleaner makes Artificial nature could help out in dreary
consumers feel more healthy and virtuous; it does workplaces as well. In an experiment conducted
little, however, to control waste. at the University of Melbourne, subjects sat at
Although greenwashing is a dubious practice, computers completing a dull but brain-intensive
the positive emotional effects sparked by task. After working for five minutes, they took a
greenness could be reason enough—in some short break while an image popped on the screen.
situations—to employ this ubiquitous symbol of The image was either a photograph of a concrete
nature and life. rooftop or a photograph of a rooftop covered with
Ruzica Stamenovic studied the impact of green green plantings. After returning to work, subjects
branding in several Singapore hospitals that had in the concrete rooftop group began making more
earned environmental architecture certifications. errors and showed signs of diminished focus, while
Meeting such rigorous standards helps the the subjects who had taken a “green microbreak”
planet, but it doesn’t do much for patients or continued to perform well and even improve.
visitors if they don’t know about it. An energy- According to environmental psychologist Kate
saving heating system is not a tangible part of a Lee, people are spontaneously drawn to images
patient’s experience. Yet knowing that a hospital is of nature and thus focus on them with little effort.
committed to the environment and to the natural Thus such images help conserve the mental
landscape can enhance well-being. Stamenovic resources required for concentration. Taking your
found that placing a park bench inside a hallway or dog outside could help, too!
painting a mural of falling leaves in a windowless
waiting room helped people feel connected
to nature. Offering representations of nature READ MORE Dhruv Khullar, M.D., “Bad Hospital Design Is Making
Us Sicker,” New York Times (February 22, 2017); Ruzica Bozovic
throughout an entire facility—not just in dedicated Stamenovic, “Branding Environmental and Evidence Based
pockets of outdoor space—made people feel more Hospital Design,” 30th International Seminar for Public Health
attuned to nature and aware of the institution's Group (PHG) of the Union of International Architects (UIA) at
green values. Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, 2010; Nicole Torres, “Gazing
at Nature Makes You More Productive: An Interview with Kate
Lee,” Harvard Business Review (September 2015): 32-33.
Color and Emotion
HOW DO PEOPLE REACT To coLor? Although color has different symbolic

meanings in different cultures, scientific research suggests that in
the absence of other cues, some responses are nearly universal, or
widely shared among many people.
Why do orange, yellow, and red make us feel lower, slower composition by Brahms as moody
alive and alert, while blue calms us down? This and sad. They associated Bach with light, bright,
reaction may be deeply rooted in the species’ warm colors, while linking Brahms to duller,
quest for survival. Long before creatures could deeper, cooler tones.
see the colors of the rainbow, says color vision Such research confirms the instincts of many
scientist Jay Neitz, ancient organisms developed artists and designers. Most of us know that bright,
receptors that register the yellowness or blueness warm colors suggest happiness and joy, while cool
of light. Each of these colors of light has a different hues and dull, shadowy tones are more downbeat.
wavelength. Human beings still have these A mix of perceptual and cultural factors makes the
receptors—called melanopsin—which help us fit of colors and emotions feel right.
know the time ofday. Sensing night and day isa A psychologist and a designer asked another
crucial skill for countless living things, from single- question: how might color stimulate users of a
celled organisms to sophisticated predators. product or interface to feel or act a certain way?
Our deep-seated reaction to blue and yellow Their research suggests that reds, yellows, and
may underscore broader emotional responses. We oranges tend to prompt an activated, energized
instinctively see yellow as the color of happiness State of mind in users, while cooler blues and
because it is the color of sunshine and waking purples are linked to calmness or focus.
life. Blue is connectea with peacefulness and Studies like these suggest that not only can
rest, a mode of being that is also necessary for color represent an emotion or mood, but color
survival. According to Neitz, “The reason we could—under optimum circumstances—lead
feel happy when we see red, orange, and yellow people toward experiencing that mood. A
light is because we’re stimulating this ancient compelling story inspires people to feel emotions,
blue-yellow visual system.” Although a relentless not just to witness them. Narrative helps us shuttle
parade of emoji and smiley faces has reinforced between representation and experience, between
yellow’s happiness quotient, that doesn’t mean cultural convention and embodied, felt response.
the relationship is wholly arbitrary. The equation
of yellow and happiness bears the weight of READ MORE Yasmin Anwar, “Back to the Blues, Our Emotions
biological truth. Match Music to Colors,” Berkeley News (May 16, 2013), http://
A study of color, emotion, and music, news. berkeley.edu/2013/05/16/musiccolors/; accessed June
6, 2017; Alan Manning and Nicole Amare, “Emotion-Spectrum
conducted with subjects in Mexico and the
Response to Form and Color: Implications for Usability,”
United States, sought to find out if different Conference proceeding, IEEE (July 19-22, 2009); Stephen
qualities of music trigger relatively consistent Palmer et al. “Music-Color Associations Are Mediated by
emotional responses in people, and if those same Emotion,” Proceedings of the National Academy ofSciences of
responses correlate closely with qualities of color. the United States of America 110.22 (2013): 8836-8841; Natalie
Wolchover, “Your Color Red Really Could Be My Blue,” Live
Participants identified a quick, upbeat piece by
Science (June 29, 2012), https://www.livescience.com/21275-
Bach as happy and energetic, while tagging a color-red-blue-scientists.html; accessed July 30, 2017.
ACT 2 Emotion 109
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EMOTIONAL PALETTE In a Study linking music, emotion, and This multidimensional scale shows the participants’ response
color, researchers created a remarkably subtle color palette to correlating a selection of colors with eight emotional terms.
to share with participants. Rather than pick hues straight from The colors vary in intensity as well as in hue. The emotions
a basic box of crayons, they assembled an array of swatches selected for the study also vary in intensity (happy, sad, angry,
that vary in lightness and saturation. Participants were asked to calm, strong, weak, lively, and dreary). The study evaluated
evaluate the emotional tenor of the colors independently as well the emtional tone and intensity of music as well as color. Music
as relating the colors to short passages of music. Partcipants has a more direct and immediate emotional impact than color.
tended to link happy music and upbeat emotions with lighter, Graph redrawn from Palmer et al.
brighter, warmer colors, while linking sadder music and lower
emotions with duller, darker, cooler tones.
COLoRways Textile designers often apply different colors toa that recede on a wall, garment, package, or digital surface.
single pattern design, allowing them to create multiple products Patterns help modulate an overall mood and ambiance. Print
from one set of printing plates. Such color ranges are called Trials, Punch # 2, 1958; Designed by Alexander Hayden Girard
colorways. Changing the color of a pattern can change its mood. (American, 1907-1993); wool (46%) cotton (39%) and rayon
To create the designs shown here, Alexander Girard provided the (15%); Warp x Weft: 31.1 x 30.5 cm (12 1/4 x 12 in.); Collection of
manufacturer with watercolors of the pattern and hand-painted Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Gift of Alexander
swatches. Patterns are often uses as backgrounds or textures H. Girard; 1969-165-1249, -1239, -1245.
TUMMY TREK TO Create an educational game about the role of various bacteria aid and hinder the process of digestion. Different
bacteria in the digestive system, designer Yinan Wang used color palettes depict the intestinal landscape as a healthy, happy
color to convey mood. The game takes place on a river flowing environment (top) or as a gloomy place of intestinal distress
through the large intestine. As food travels down the river, (bottom). Design and illustration by Yinan Wang.
TOOL WW
Color and Emotion
GOOD MOODS AND BAD Moons A changing color climate expresses the
changing mood of a drama. The storytellers at Pixar Animation
Studios create “color scripts” that map out the moods in a film,
as expressed through color and lighting.
To create a color script, animators apply color to color for that. A market research firm in Australia
selected frames from the film’s storyboard. They has determined that the world’s ugliest color is
create the color script early in the development of Pantone 448. This drab shade of green resembles
a film, providing a high-level representation of the a stale cup of coffee tweaked with a squirt of
story’s emotional arc. According to Pixar, “It’s not Gatorade. This color was chosen for use on
about making a single pretty piece of art; the color cigarette packages that are designed to be so
script evolves throughout the early stages of the repulsive, smokers won’t want to buy them. The
film, hand in hand with story development.” research team asked one thousand smokers to
Designers of games, animations, apps, motion look at an array of awful colors, including mouse
graphics, and other digital experiences can also gray, lime green, mustard yellow, and basic beige.
use color scripts. The palette needs to hang The color the smokers picked looks a lot like
together as a totality, but it can shift and evolve to tobacco. This stinky, slimy brown aims to inspire
express dramatic change. disgust, subverting desire and turning us away.
Designers are trained to use colors that Even worse are the photographs of rotting toes and
delight and inspire. But sometimes we need to clogged lungs (consequences of smoking) that also
stir up some darkness and dread. Well, there’s a appear on these terrifying packages.
Smoking clogs
your arteries
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COLOR SCRIPT This tiny storyboard for the game Tummy Trek READ MORE Donald G. McNeil, “How to Get Smokers to Quit?
shows how the shift in color over the course of game play Enlist World’s Ugliest Color,” New York Times (June 20, 2016),
reflects the change from a healthy tummy to a turbulent one. https://nyti.ms/2hms5eYl; accessed July 15, 2016; Pixar, “Colour
Design and illustration by Yinan Wang. Script,” http://pixar-animation.weebly.com/colour-script.html;
accessed August 1, 2017.
Perception is a dynamic
process. Our senses
are driven by action
and seek patterns. Our
picture of the world at
any instant is shaped by
what we want to do.
Act 3| Sensation

115
ACT 3
Sensation
Did you ever pull back and imagine your life as a movie? In this
cinematic masterpice, you are the filmmaker as well as the featured
talent. The process of perception is, indeed, something like making
a movie. As your eyes dart about to focus on different people and
things, they function a bit like film cameras, combining numerous
still pictures to register motion and depth. As we move through
space and time, we intuitively predict what will happen next based
on previous “frames.” (An elephant racing toward you will keep
getting bigger.) Cognitive scientists call this filmic sequence of
imagery optic flow. No single point of focus is ever divorced from
what comes immediately before and after.
According to philosopher Alva Noé, “Perception is not something
that happens to us, or in us. It is something we do.” He explains, for
example, why professional baseball players are so good at hitting
a tiny ball speeding through the air. They are alert and watching
the scene with their whole bodies. A hitter interprets the pitcher’s
movements and predicts where the ball will go. With the ball moving
nearly 100 miles per hour, the hitter has no time to calculate its
trajectory or even follow it with his or her eyes. Instead, the batter’s
body reacts to the precise action of the pitcher in order to almost
instantaneously predict the ball’s destination.
We tend to see what we are looking for. We don’t absorb every
detail of an app, a web page, or a crowded room simultaneously. We
overlook countless features as we jump around the page or screen,
taking focused snapshots in rapid succession. Quick movements of
the eye (called saccades) allow us to find a price, a headline, a can of
soda, or ascary face.
Our optic flow melds with input from other senses. Our
“camera angle” changes with each turn of the head. Visual
stimuli mix with sound, smell, touch, and the weight and
location of bodies in space. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto
designed each of his buildings as a flow of physical encounters
rather than as a series of static images. Aalto saw a door as an
invitation to action—an opportunity to enter, not an abstract
rectangle pencilled on a flat plane. The next time you pass
through a doorway, notice the sense of compression as the
frame of the door pinches the space around your body and then
lets you go as the room opens up.
Windows and doors carve passageways through physical
space. On a page or screen, boxes, arrows, lines, margins, and
frames lead users in and out of content. A poorly designed web
page is a patchwork of escape routes and baited traps. Usability
expert Jacob Nielsen explains, “On web pages with multiple
superfluous images, people treat the entire page as an obstacle
course they must navigate.”
Like a story, perception is active and temporal. Users of an
app or website don’t just look, they act. They click, point, scroll,
like, and swipe, responding to what they see. All vision involves
action and interaction. Vision is a mechanism for perceiving
space and time in relation to an observer. This observer has a,
body—a head that tilts and turns, and hands that reach, touch,
and grasp.
Our working memory can hold onto only a few objects
at atime. When you actively search for something—from a
can of Coke to a lost child—you prime your brain to seek out
particular details (a shiny red cylinder or a little blue hoodie).
Even when not confronting a specific task, our gaze gravitates
toward points of interest, from eyes, mouths, and noses to
snakes in the grass and letters on a page. Neuroscientist Jan
Lauwereyns explains that perception seeks out a small number
of meaningful objects in a sea of stimuli: “preferably important
ones, useful or dangerous, beautiful or strange.” In a cluttered
sign, diagram, or website, noisy distractions overwhelm
valuable information.
ACT 3 Sensation 117
ACTIVE PATH This icon set

was designed for the career
center at a college. The icons
represent the center’s range
of services. The icons express
motion, time, change, and
iniative by turning static
objects into active paths.
Design by PostTypography
for MICA.
A product or publication comes to life as people put it to

use over time. Anthropologist Tim Ingold has written that
landscapes are defined by paths. When people inhabit a place,
they cut across it on cleared roads, bodies of water, or swaths of
earth beaten down by people and other creatures. Such paths
of movement define villages, cities, and roads. Ingold writes,
“There can be no places without paths, along which people
arrive and depart; and no paths without places.” Signs and
arrows ease the flow of people through hospitals and airports,
while logos and shopwindows promote the flow of capital.
A publication or website is a network of passageways and
stopping-off points designed to attract and guide attention,
to speed it up and slow it down. Any design project is a site of
activity, brought to life by the movement of eyes and bodies.
This book invites designers to think about paths, from
user journeys to the path of the active, roving eye. Designers
use psychological cues to create elements and interfaces that
stay in the background, coming forward only when beckoned.
Designers also take the eye and body to new places. Much of
what we find memorable in a poster, pattern, or page layout
involves games of omission, ambiguity, and visual tension.
Playful gaps and glitches activate our powers of perception,
making us aware of what it means to see.
READ MORE Tim Ingold, “The Temporality of the Landscape,” Jakob Nielsen and Kara Pernice, Eye Tracking Web Usability
World Archaeology 25, no. 2 (October 1993): 152-74; Jan (London: Pearson Education, Inc. and New Riders, 2010);
Laureweyns, Brain and the Gaze (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012); Juhani Pullasmaa, The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the
Alva Noé, Action in Perception (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2004); Senses (West Sussex, England: Wiley, 2005).
TOOL
The Gaze
Medusa, the famous monster from Greek

mythology, was so ugly she turned men
into stone if they dared to look at her.
Medusa used looking as a tool of destruction.
Societies erect rules of behavior about how
and when to wield the power of the gaze.
Looking downward demonstrates submission
and respect; staring or glaring is an act of
aggression. Acknowledging the power of the
gaze helps designers understand the roving,
searching activity of vision. Designers use
color and shape, borders and arrows, words
and pictures, to attract the gaze of users.
Graphic elements captivate the eye or release
it to wander along a fluid path.
ACT 3 Sensation 119
WHAT ARE
YOU LOOKING AT?
MG
MEDVSA PHORCI FILIA, CRINES HABVIT:
AVREOS CVM pEA NEPTVNVS CONCV BV.
iT IN TEMPLO IMINERVAL, QVARE TVRBAs.
TA MINERVA, MEDVSA" ‘CRINES AVREOS IN ANGVES
MVTAVIT- < OVIDIVS + LIB + 4 + METAMORPH+ .
Medusa Head, Anonymous, 1500-1599. Collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Gaze
THE power To seE Exploring the world with your eyes is an active
process. In every society, some people are more free than others
to look or to be looked at.
The gaze is a powerful instrument. To look is to Laura Mulvey’s legendary 1975 essay “Visual
actively search and communicate. We point by Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” describes the
directing our gaze at people and objects. “I want camera as an extension of the male look, which
that one,” you say, casting your gaze at a glossy treats the female body as a sexual object. The
donut or an enticing dance partner. Wandering audience identifies with the camera and the male
through life, we sometimes operate in active gaze. In traditional Hollywood cinema, close-ups
search mode—hunting for the bathroom or of female eyes, lips, and legs flatten women into
fumbling for a price tag. At other times, we look passive erotic spectacles. The moving camera
around in a more open state, simply taking in our tends to depict the point of view of the male
surroundings, receptive to the scene. In either hero, who dominates the narrative. According to
case, Our gaze is drawn to points of intrigue, from Mulvey, the male protagonist “articulates the look
a dark hole in the middle of the road to a black cat and creates the action.”
lurking in the shadows. Humans instinctively look Mulvey pushed filmmakers to reveal the
for novelty and surprise, because any shift in what material presence of the camera and disconnect
we see could be a source ofdanger or delight. it from the male gaze. Responding to Mulvey’s
These visual disruptions mark potential critique of traditional visual narrative, feminist
stories embedded in a scene. Change is the basis artists and designers have created alternative
of narrative, and change motivates the act of representations of women. Putting a gorilla head
looking. Our constant search for change drives the on areclining nude delivers a’shock to our habits
gaze from one point of focus to the next. of looking. Gone is the familiar narrative of the
Since the birth of advertising, luscious female passive female body. In the new story that takes
bodies have been deployed to sell everything its place, women are wild, and they are watching.
from cigarettes to office equipment. A curvy girl
draped across a Cadillac makes the car an object
of erotic consumption. Looking can be a soothing
and seductive source of pleasure. Being looked
at, however, can also make people feel excluded
from the action or turned into a passive target.
In a world structured by sexual imbalance,

pleasure in looking has been split between
active/male and passive/female.
LAURA MULVEY, “VISUAL PLEASURE AND NARRATIVE CINEMA”
ACT 3 Sensation 121
BEHOLD THE GAZE Albrecht Diirer’s famous drawing of a

draughstman at work (1525) shows a screenlike device for
transcribing the scene in two dimensions. Collection of
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Rees
BR
5
Do women have fo be naked to

get into the Met. Museum?
nq 7 -. gless than 5% of the artists in the Modern
, + Art sections are women, but 85%
of the nudes are female.
GuERRILLA Giris CONSCIENCE OF THE ART WORLD
www. guerr i OP ier sles) echoam
READ MORE Jan Lauwereyns, Brain and the Gaze GUERILLA GIRLS The feminist art collective Guerilla Girls
(Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012); Laura Mulvey, “Visual challenges the marginalization of women artists. Do Women
Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” 1975, in Film Have to Be Naked to Get into the Met. Museum? 1989, Offset
Theory and Criticism, ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall lithograph, Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design
Cohen (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): Museum, Gift of Sara and Marc Benda, 2009-20-2.
833-44.
122 TOOL
The Gaze
EVOLUTION OF THE EVE Biological vision evolved over millions of

years, starting with light-sensitive proteins in single-celled
organisms. These creatures’ ability to sense light developed
along with nerve cells enabling the creatures to move and act.
These tiny organisms could move toward light to consume
energy, or they could hide in darkness to avoid predators.
=z
~
EUGLENA has a light-sensitive patch PLANARIAN WORM has a dent in its head. PINHOLE EYE focuses light on a retina.
and a tiny neural hair. Vision began with The light-sensitive patch of the primitive The dent in the head of the nautilus is
light-sensitive patches on single-celled planarian worm is depressed rather than deeper than that of the planarian worm,
organisms. The microscopic euglena uses flat. Light falling on this concave area hits forming a spherical cavity with a narrow
a tiny neural hair to travel toward light (to some cells and misses others, because opening at one end. A beam of light
turn it into energy). Over time, organisms the sides of the dent block the light. entering this narrow opening focuses
evolved who could sense light changing (Picture a crater on the moon, with one light on photoreceptor cells at the back
from one instant to the next. Such edge rimmed in shadow.) The planarian of the cavity (the retina). The cavity thus
creatures could thus perceive motion, worm can thus perceive changes in the functions like a biological pinhole camera.
increasing their ability to find food and direction of light over time, establishing a The pinhole eye of the nautilus can sense
avoid danger, and thus enhancing their circadian rhythm or “biological clock” that direction and detect shapes with more
evolutionary advantage. helps it hide in darkness from predators. precision.
ACT 3 Sensation 123
Vision supports actions that help creatures survive

and reproduce. Vision involves not just sensing light
but responding to it.
OUTER LENS protects the eye and THE IRIS Optimizes vision for day or night.
focuses light. An octopus eye has a thin More sophisticated creatures, such as
membrane protecting the fluid-filled dogs, cats, and people, have a third
interior from infection. A fixed-focus layer, the iris, that controls how much
outer lens narrows the beam of light light enters the eye. The iris narrows
entering the eye. A refractive inner lens in bright light and widens in darkness,
enables a wider visual angle and projects enabling creatures to adjust their vision
a more finely tuned picture on the retina, as the environment changes. Anatomical
enabling the eye to focus on objects at features such as the retina, lens, and iris
varied distances. Depth perception allows developed in concert with the brain and
an octopus to understand its proximity to optic nerve, allowing creatures to react to
desired (or feared) objects. their visible surroundings.
Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias

124 TOOL
The Gaze
WHERE DOES THE GAzE Go? What do people tend to look at? In what
order will they see information? A page packed with texts and
images isn’t a static composition; it must be traversed over
time by the restless eye.
Close your eyes and imagine a man running past hidden from direct consciousness. Made with
you in a purple running suit. Now, think about the help of cameras and computer screens,
the picture that just played in your head. Which heat maps and motion diagrams illuminate the
way was the man running? For many readers of involuntary vision patterns of users.
the Latin alphabet, the man in the jogging suit According to vision-tracking research
will travel from left to right, like words on a page. conducted by Jacob Nielsen and Kara Pernice,
Likewise, Latin readers often view images from left web users despise advertisments and instinctively
to right and top to bottom, the same way we read skip over them. A person researching the mating
text. Points of interest, however—such as faces or habits of mallard ducks will look at pictures
puppies—will draw our attention away from this of ducks, but not at ads for reducing belly fat.
general path. Users tend to avoid pictures that are irrelevant
To order a pastry at the donut counter, you to the subject at hand, as well as images that
point with your eyes as well as your index finger to are poor quality or low contrast. They will also
say, “| want that one.” Eyes printed on a package avoid looking at generic stock photos. People
or poster entice viewers to glance back. An image want to look at real ducks, not ducks posing at a
of a face can also direct viewers’ attention to corporate picnic.
whatever the eyes are pointing to. Designers can use such research insights to
The Russian scientist Alfred L. Yarbus is please and delight users instead of junking up the
the father of modern eye-tracking research. visual field. The competition for human attention
In the 1960s, he attached mirrors and suction has often been called a “battle for eyeballs.” It’s
cups to the eyeballs of participants to capture useful to know that the eyeball is not a mindless
their movement. Today’s digital eye-tracking optical machine. It has learned to repel—with
technologies continue to study the movement ruthless precision—the aresenal of visual crap
of the thinking eye, exposing behaviors that are strewn in its path.
TRACKING THE GAZE To conduct his eye-tracking research,

Soviet scientist Alfred L. Yarbus immobilized his subjects’
heads and taped open their eyes. He attached a contraption
made of lights and mirrors to the eyeball with a suction cup.
The mirrors beamed light onto photosenstive paper. The
research subjects thus created drawings with their eyeballs,
recording the staccato path of the human gaze. When shown
the face of a young girl, the eye gravitated to the girls’ eyes
and mouth, natural points of interest. Alfred L. Yarbus, Eye
Movements and Vision (New York: Plenum Press, 1967); Jakob
Nielsen and Kara Pernice, Eye Tracking Web Usability (London:
Pearson Education, Inc. and New Riders, 2010).
ACT 3 Sensation 125
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HOW DO YOU READ A PICTURE? In the illustration of the scary His visual stories often have a beginning, middle, and end
doctor, our gaze tends to gravitate to his eyes first and then to (doctor, needle, shocking price tag), even when the story is told
the ominous needle on the left side of the image. Having set up in a single frame. The black and red illustrations above read
the archetype ofthe evil doctor and his wicked tools, the artist from top to bottom. Here, Niemann sets up an expetaction at
now breaks expectations and shows us a menacing bank check. the top of the picture (knitting a sweater or hanging laundry).
The scariest thing about medicine is not the procedure but The punchline arrives at the bottom, upsetting our intitial
paying the bill! Christoph Niemann, a designer, illustrator, and assumptions. Illustrations by Christoph Niemann.
author working in Berlin, has built a career creating surprising
narrative pictures like this one.
TOOL
Gestalt Principles
Look around and notice how objects emerge

from other objects. Millions of hairs on your
dog’s back and thousands of tufts of fiber
sprouting from the rug melt together to become
a sleeping canine or a shaggy carpet. According
to the Gestalt principles of perception, the
brain converts a flood of data about color, tone,
shape, movement, and orientation into distinct
objects. These useful chunks of information
are called percepts. A cluster of dots becomes a
face. A clump of letters becomes a word. Dashes
painted on a roadway define a path. Designers
produce forms that stand out against the clutter
of experience or pull away into the background.
ACTS Sensation 127
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AVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVAVA
NAPKIN SKETCHES Alexander Hayden Girard was a prolific Drawings, Napkin Designs for La Fonda del Sol Restaurant,
designer of furniture, textiles, and interiors. Shown here are ca. 1959; Designed by Alexander Hayden Girard (American,
drawings he created for dinner napkins for a restaurant he 1907-1993); USA; brush and watercolor on blueprint grid
designed in 1959. Each pattern stimulates and activates the on white wove paper; 40.6 x 61cm (16 x 24in.); Collection of
eye. The spaces between elements undulate from figure to Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Gift of Alexander
ground, as shapes group into dynamic stripes and diagonals. H. Girard; 1969-165-334, -324, -327, -331, -333, -335.
Gestalt Principles
PARTS AND WHoLEs German psychologists in the early twentieth

century studied the active character of vision. They founded
the Gestalt theory of perception, which explores how the brain
groups elements into larger wholes.
Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer wrote, According to the Gestalt principle of simplicity,
“The whole is different from the sum of its parts.” the brain groups elements in order to minimize
Ina map or diagram, elements grouped by the number ofobjects in a scene. Pursuing
size, shape, or color become distinct layers of simplicity became an aesthetic imperative for
information. In a field of text, letters group into modern designers.
words, lines, and columns. In an icon system, Grouping underlies our perception of complex
images take shape from geometric elements. scenes in the living environment as well as two-
In a patterned textile, repeated parts create a dimensional patterns and surfaces. The Gestalt
rhythmic surface. By playing with relationships principle of common fate holds that items moving
between parts and wholes, designers make or changing simultaneously will form a group.
images come alive in peoples’ minds. A lion blends into the grass, camouflaged by its
Grouping is inherently active, allowing viewers surroundings. As the lion leaps into action, she
to move between contradictory understandings separates from the background. The common
of an object or element. A dot, dash, or letter is fate of her contour provides a life-or-death signal
a single particle; at the same time it belongs to a to potential prey. Figure/ground is the process
continuous line or a larger field. Calling attention of separating a dominant element from its
to the conflict between parts and wholes prompts Surroundings. In a pattern of uniform stripes or
mental work from viewers, foregrounding checkerboard squares, the relationship between
perception as a dynamic experience. figure and ground is shifting and ambiguous.
GESTALT PRINCIPLES
PROXIMITY Closely spaced

elements form groups.
SIMILARITY Elements with the

same color or shape are a group.
PROXIMITY COMMON FATE CLOSURE SYMMETRY
COMMON FATE Elements appear
walll
to change as a group.
LAN
FIGURE/GROUND AMBIGUITY
White spaces can read either as
foreground or background.
CLOSURE AND CONTINUATION

SIMILARITY FIGURE/GROUND AMBIGUITY CONTINUATION We mentally close the gaps in the
regular shapes or strong lines.
ACT 3 Sensation 129
ROSEAMALD-
WOLF GALLERD a DONNER AU TRAIN Ee
THE
| PMIMERSITS OF
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THE ARTS
PRILADELP SID @@ JONVAV.G S330! saa"
ACTIVE VISION These posters and letterforms, designed by

Philippe Apeloig, invite viewers to experience vision as an active
process. The principles of proximity, continuation, and closure
come into play as viewers spontaneously build wholes out of pees)
parts, fillin the gaps between elements, and see white spaces
oscillate between figure and ground. This process of witnessing
visual conflicts and contradictions yields surprise and delight. ooeee :: e
Clockwise from upper left: Play Type, poster for an exhibition Re
at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, The University of the Arts, 35
Philadelphia; Xtra Train, poster celebrating the 7oth anniversary Ce e
of the National Railways of France; the letter “Z” from nine

typefaces designed by Philippe Apeloig: Coupé Regular, Ali, —aay
Octobre, Abf Linéaire Regular, Poudre One, Abf Petit, Ndebele Y4
Plain, AbfSilhouette, Izocel; typefaces available from Nouvelle
Noir type foundry, Switzerland, https://nouvellenoire.ch.
Design by Philippe Apeloig. ea
HUNGRY FOR DIFFERENCE The gaze
& @ SS constantly seeks new information. We

Sp @ quickly perceive anomalies in the visual
od =~ aa field. Designers use changes in color,
&S = ee size, orientation, and motion to make an
SD a) element easy to find.
@ ee
& ) @ &
ee @
@ @ @
eo @ @
Orientation
EASY AND HARD Some differences are

easier to see than others. Each of these
diagrams includes one unique character
that stands out from the crowd and
y . another unique character that more or
less blends in. Designers create various
relationships of difference and similarity
MM M
‘| when they work with data, typography,
patterns, textures, and other applications.
M
M
M
M . ota y 4
The upside-down M is harder to find The flipped K is harder to find than
than the bold M. the K that’s filled in.
| i Nee
Vy re
Bae ee oat
|
Ser e
ees\
ee Oa | — Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias; adapted
hh hic from Colin Ware, Visual Thinking for
Ve Ze | —— ee Design (Burlington, MA: Elsevier, 2008).
S ro
| aS |
The light green Z is harder to find The L is harder to find than the
than the orange Z. plus sign.
ACT 3 Sensation 131
HELP apie
CINDERELLA
GETTOTHE sNow whire
CASTLE
CINDERELLA
TOWN
: ' FROG’S
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[yd
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NETWORK MAp If Cinderella takes the wrong route, she will end READ MORE Johan Wagemans, James H. Elder, Michael Kubovy,
up at Rapunzel’s Tower instead of Prince Charming’s Castle. Stephen E. Palmer, Mary A. Peterson, Manish Singh, and
Her powers of perception will help her find the right path. Color Rudiger von der Heydt, “A Century of Gestalt Psychology in
unifies each of
the five train lines (continuation). The large black Visual Perception, |. Perceptual Grouping and Figure-Ground
dots are easy to find and read as a separate plane (similarity). Organization,” Psychological Bulletin 138, no. 6 (November 2012):
Designers use perceptual principles to create information 1172-1217, d0i:10.1037/a0029333.
graphics that are intuitive to read.
TOOL
Affordance
Action is the essence of storytelling. Designers

create cues and pathways that guide the
actions of users. Buttons are for pushing,
menus are for scrolling, and the pages of a
book are for flipping, turning, and marking.
An object that triggers an action is called an
affordance. Some affordances are accidental:
a window ledge near a bus stop is a handy
place to rest a coffee cup. Many responses
to affordances are instinctive. A high cliff
affords falling, so people and other creatures
Stay away from the edge. Other affordances
are learned over time. The bars, buttons,
and menus on a website or an app borrow
imagery from physical objects. Shadows and
highlights make these digital fictions seem
more physically real—and they invite action
from users.
ACT 3 Sensation
133
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Illustration by Jason Gottlieb

134
PHYSICAL AFFORDANCES Mechanical controls such as levers, the paper the distance required to begin a new line. While
buttons, and wheels are examples of affordances. Their shape, many earlier typewriter designs exposed the inner workings of
position, familiarity, and graphic markings invite action from the machine, Dreyfuss and other modern designers preferred
users. The typewriter shown here was designed by Henry to reveal only those parts of the machine that people would
Dreyfuss in 1944. His design philosophy sought to fit “the interact with. Many devices today adhere to this principle.
machine to the man rather than the man to the machine.” Drawing, Design for Royal Typewriter, 1944; Designed by Henry
Dreyfuss’s design preserved features of typewriters that had Dreyfuss (American, 1904-1972); USA; gouache, pen and black
already been standard for over fifty years, including a cylindrical ink, white chalk, graphite on cream illustration board; 46.4
rubber carriage with a wheel for advancing a sheet of paper X 35.9 cm (18 1/4 x 14 1/8 in.); Collection of Cooper Hewitt,
up and down, and a lever for finishing a line and advancing Smithsonian Design Museum; Gift of John Bruce; 1993-65-1.
ACT 3 Sensation
135
AFFORDANCES—
THE SMARTPHONE
eee00 ATaT >
<@
DIGITAL AFFORDANCES The text messaging interface shown here Long after such mechanical problems were eliminated, the
includes a keyboard and a scrolling display. Subtle shadows QWERTY layout stayed in use. Once you have learned to type
recall physical keys that can be handled and touched. The first using this layout, it is difficult to unlearn it and embrace a
six keys in the top row spell out the word “QWERTY.” Back in the new one—even though today’s devices bear no technical
early days of mechanical typewriters, the peculiar arrangement resemblance to their forebears. Despite many efforts at reform,
of the QWERTY keyboard was believed to prevent keys from generations of typists have been stuck with this illogical
jamming by slowing typists down. If a typist was working too affordance. A smartphone has various physical affordances
fast, the keys could fly up and hit the paper at nearly the same not found on mechanical typewriters, from the home button to
time, creating a tangled mess. Thus the QWERTY keyboard was the camera and volume controls, as well as numerous digital
explicitly designed to prevent optimal performance. affordances that have become new standards.
136 TOOL
Affordances
JUST-IN-TIME REPRESENTATION TTy this visual test. Look at the icons on the
facing page and find the Twitter logo. You may stumble on an eagle
or a paper airplane before finding what you are looking for, but you
probably hit your target in a second or two.
When searching for something specific—such as a Immersed in a fog of competing signals, we

car in a parking lot or a friend’s face in a crowd— simplify what we see in order to distinguish earth
people actively focus on the task at hand, sifting from sky, objects from backgrounds, motion from
out irrelevant details. Vision is an active, goal- stillness, dashes from dots. Whether searching
oriented activity that reserves attention for valued for the letters d-o-g printed on a page or looking
information. The designers of the Twitter logo used for a lost poodle in a busy park, we ignore non-
distinctive graphics to create a brand identity you essential stimuli. If a rabid dog suddenly rushed
can quickly find and act on. into your visual field, your whole body would react.
Try the same experiment with the word “dog,” Your arms would fly up to protect your face. Your
which is written somewhere in the following shoulders would twist defensively, and you would
paragraphs. You might stumble on a few false crouch down to enable leaping out of the way.
positives along the way (“fog” or “dot”), but Sensory details less essential to your immediate
despite the hazards, you can quickly find what survival—such as a plastic bag impaled in a tree or
you are looking for. You draw on your powers of a mosquito biting your neck—would go unnoticed.
perception and your familiarity with reading and Just-in-time representation is a useful
typography to finish the job efficiently. phenomenon to keep in mind when designing a
Computer scientist Dana Harry Ballard calls simple logo or a complex map. How will users find
this process just-in-time representation. Ballard your symbol in the crowd? How will they make
is the creator of computerized machines that their way through layers of data? Creating strong
simulate human vision. In 1985, he helped build a shapes and clear links and separations among
robotic camera that moves rapidly about like the elements helps users find meaning and make
human eye. In fields ranging from cognitive science sense ofthe visual field.
to artificial intelligence, scientists are modelling
vision in order to help computers find meaning in
what they see.
Biological vision gears its computational activity closely

and sparingly to the task at hand, making the most efficient
use of the persisting external scene. anov ciarx
ACT 3 , 137
Sensation
HOW FAST CAN YOU FIND

THE TWITTER LOGO?
FIND IT JUST IN TIME TO locate the Twitter logo, you didn’t test
each image one by one. When the brain is primed to search for
particular objects, signs, or colors, we quickly find what we are
looking for and ignore the rest. Illustration by Yi Pan.
TOOL
Humans constantly make decisions based on

impulses, gut feelings, or force of habit. Such
decisions evade rational analysis. Making a
choice quickly helps us get through life. Ifa
person decided to do a cost/benefit analysis
before choosing a seat on the bus or deciding
which article to read first on a news site, they
would have a slow time getting through the
day. Behavioral economics studies human
decision making. Design elements such as
size and color often provide the extra push or
“nudge” that gets someone to click a link or
choose a product. Although blinking buttons
and shiny graphics can be used for nefarious
purposes, designers can apply insights about
human behavior for social benefit.
ACT 3 Sensation 139
WHICH
DETERGENT
WOULD YOU
RATHER
USE?
BOX STORY Participants in a study were given three boxes of

detergent to test over a period of time. The detergent inside
the boxes was all the same, but the packages were printed
in different colors: some were blue, some were yellow, and
some were both blue and yellow. Users generally preferred the
detergent in the multicolored boxes, yet they didn’t report this
to the researchers. They explained their choices in terms of
the product’s performance, but in fact, the only real difference
was graphic design. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
140 TOOL
ART OF THE NUDGE Seemingly minor design decisions—like preselecting a

radio button or changing the color of a candy wrapper—can influence
choices at an unconscious level. Behavioral economists show how
such design elements affect people’s decisions.
When faced with a choice between three different Using this knowledge, Brian Wansink, founder
service plans or three different smartphones, of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University,
many people will pick the middle option. They pushed food producers to create 100-calorie
feel instinctively that the cheaper one isn’t snack packs. His lab also found that people will
good enough and the most expensive one is eat more jelly beans when many colors are mixed
too extravagant. Thus marketing professionals together than when the colors are sorted into
carefully design the pricing and features of separate containers, because people believe that
different plans and products, knowing that the varied foods taste better. M&M candies all taste
middle one will be the most popular—and the the same—regardless of color—but people will
choices on either side will make it even more so. eat fewer M&Ms if all the candies in the bowl are
People also tend to accept defaults. Consider one hue. Verbal descriptions such as “farm-fresh
the problem of how to increase the number eggs” or “baby garden lettuce” influence not only
of organ donors. In many nations, citizens which items people choose but their perceptions
automatically become donors when they register of how good they taste.
for driver’s licenses. These citizens can easily opt Designers must proceed with caution when
out, but the vast majority don’t. In the United applying insights from behavioral economics
States, citizens must explicitly opt in to become and other fields of psychology. The practice of
organ donors. Faced with making the decision presenting pre-checked boxes on a website or
more actively, people are more likely to become tricking users into spamming their contact list are
skeptical and suspicious, rejecting this safe, examples of “dark patterns.” It is unethical to trick
hugely beneficial, lifesaving program. someone into buying insurance they don’t want or
In the United States and other countries supporting a cause they disagree with. Common
around the world, portion sizes have ballooned dark patterns include disguising advertisements
as the cost of industrially produced food has as editorial content (“click bait”) and making it
dropped. Rising rates of obesity and diabetes difficult for users to disable a feature or cancela
accompany those giant plates of pasta and super- subscription (called a “roach motel”).
sized sodas. Research shows that people eat more Like doctors, designers should pledge to do no
when a bigger portion appears to be normal. harm and use the amazing power of language and
Consumption goes up when there’s a huge spoon design to advance the common good.
in the candy dish or when a giant bag of chips
costs a penny more than a tiny one.
Environmental factors have a powerful—and

unconscious— influence not only on how much
we eat but on how food tastes. cconaro movinow
ACT 3 Sensation 141
WHICH
POPCORN
WOULD YOU
RATHER
EAT?
TASTE TEST Various studies have shown that portion sizes— READ MORE Harry Brignall, DarkPatterns.org, accessed July
not just natural appetite—influence how much food people 28, 2017; Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New
eat. In one experiment, participants outside a movie theater York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015); Leonard Mlodinow,
were offered boxes of popcorn. Both portions were beyond Subliminal: How the Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior
what a person might normally eat, but one was smaller than (New York: Vintage Books, 2012); Richard Thaler, Cass R.
the other. The large box was filled with stale popcorn, and Sunstein, and Sean Pratt, Nudge: Improving Decisions about
the smaller one with fresh popcorn. Participants tended to Health, Wealth, and Happiness (London: Penguin Books,
eat more food from the bigger container, despite its crappy 2009); Brian Wansink, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than
contents. Iilustration by Jennifer Tobias. We Think (London: Hay House, 201)).
TOOL
Multisensory Design
Reaching beyond design’s traditional focus on

vision, multisensory design incorporates the
full range of bodily experience. We experience
the world with all our senses, using data about
the environment to move around, avoid danger,
and communicate with others. Drinking a cup
of coffee involves multiple senses. The brain
combines input about taste, smell, temperature,
and texture to create “flavor.” The chair
supporting your back, the sun drifting through
the windows, and the music whispering from
the speakers also affect your experience.
Language makes an impact, too. Is that just a
plain old cup of coffee, or is it Finca El Puente
with plum notes and a toasted nut finish?
ACT 3 i
Sensation
143
SENSORY COLOR PALETTE In this chart published by Counter

Culture Coffee, the larger flavor wedges represent categories
more commonly used by tasters, such as citrus, berry, and
chocolate. CCC plans to update the wheel as coffee preferences
change as well as publish different versions for different regions
of the world. The language of taste and smell is regional and
subjective. Design by Tim Hill.
144 TOOL
Multisensory Design
DIMMER switcu Try taking a shower in the dark. For a sighted person,
this will be a disorienting experience. You may struggle to adjust the
water temperature or to find the right soap, but you will learn about
the importance of multisensory design.
Next time you take a shower, pay attention to non- If you are blind or visually impaired, your
visual feedback. What happens when you grasp experience in the shower will be different from that
the faucet, squeeze a soap bottle, or lather your of asighted person. Your sense of touch, smell,
head with a scented brew of glycol and glycerin? and sound will provide crucial information for
Designers have worked hard to orchestrate your completing everyday tasks safely and confidently.
in-shower experience. Industrial designers and People with dementia may rely on stronger
engineers have crafted the feel of the faucet differences among products to avoid getting
and the resistance it offers as you turn the knob. confused, while people with autism spectrum
Package designers have used flexible plastic to disorder (ASD) could be overwhelmed by soap that
make your shampoo bottles soft to touch, and they smells too strong or water that is too hot or loud.
have devised hinged lids that flip open so the caps Design researcher Deana McDonagh is an
don’t fall off and get lost. Scent designers have advocate for empathic design. By exploring a city
given the soap inside the bottle its gentle fragrance or classroom while wearing earplugs or a blindfold,
or invigorating aroma. designers with normal hearing or vision can build
Notice how textures, shapes, and smells empathy and learn the importance of multisensory
connect with visible features. Does the shape of design elements. She suggests that designers
your shower hardware underscore its rotational collaborate with people with disabilities, working
movement? Does the color of the shampoo bottle with them as peers and life experts. Designers
enhance your sensory impressions? Does the should step back throughout their process and
conditioner’s milky richness promise to nourish consider how people with different abilities might
your scalp, repair split ends, or save the planet? experience a given solution. In digital design,
Does the product’s name make you think of shady clear guidelines have been established to insure
gardens or tropical cocktails? Shampoo does more universal solutions. Packaging and product
than strip the grit and grease from your hair: it interfaces should be designed so that people can
draws on multiple sensations to make a daily ritual interact with them not just visually, but by touch.
more pleasing and convenient.
DO IT IN THE DARK Students at MICA (Maryland Institute College

of Art) took showers in the dark and observed their experiences.
One student slipped and fell. Another pulled the shower control
out of the wall and dropped it on his foot. Several students
left the curtain at half-mast and got water all over the floor. In
addition to making mistakes, however, the designers activated
their non-visual intelligence. One found herself using her feet as
READ MORE Deana McDonagh, “Design Students Forseeing the well as her hands to gather tactile information about the edges
Unforeseeable: Practice-based Empathic Research Methods,” of the space. Others felt heightened awareness of the smell,
International Journal of Education through Art, 11, no. 3 (2015), silkiness, and even sound ofdifferent products. Illustrations by
doi:10.1386/eta.11.3.421_1. Jennifer Tobias.
ACT 3 Sensation 145
WHICH PACKAGES WORK BETTER IN THE DARK?
coconut coconut Bg
i milk ®
SHAMPOO CONDITIONER (orMINDED
SHAMPOO
~~
SAME DIFFERENT
These containers for shampoo and conditioner These containers for shampoo and conditioner
have the same shape, color, and typography. are different shapes, so it’s easy to tell them apart.
SD
Za aT
a Se
on |
| TNO
SHAM, |
oweg | |
=<
>< y
SS
DIFFERENT ONE PUMP, ONE PRODUCT

These containers for shampoo and conditioner Combining shampoo and conditioner into a single product
have different textures and caps with different shapes. eliminates the need for different packages altogether. The pump
The color of the products inside have different intensities. dispenser makes portion control easy without looking.
Multisensory Design
Hot corree Imagine two cups of carryout coffee. One is from

Starbucks, and the other is from Dunkin’ Donuts. One cup is
made of paper, and the other is Styrofoam. Each cup tells
a story about flavor, function, and value.
The Starbucks cup has your name written on it in A sturdy drawing of a wide-brimmed cup
black Sharpie. It is wrapped in a loose cardboard appears in many of the Dunkin’ Donuts’ signs
sleeve to protect your skin from the scalding and advertisements. The curly lines rising from
beverage inside. The Dunkin’ Donuts cup feels the open cup suggest both heat and aroma. The
cooler to touch. As you lift each one to drink, its graphic cup is a vital sidekick to DD’s chubby
weight tells you how much coffee is left. The foam pink-and-orange logotype. Dunkin’ Donuts has
cup feels thicker and more porous against your successfully applied its donut-centric brand to a
lips than the lightly waxed rim of paper, and the wide range of sandwiches, snacks, and beverages.
Styrofoam has a plastic taste. Dunkin’ Donuts’ cool-to-touch Styrofoam cup is a
Each cup is a vessel of communication as well symbol of this popular, affordable brand. Yet the
as coffee, speaking about the place that sells it and big foam cup may soon drift into cultural memory.
the people who use it. Starbucks provides upscale In 2015 the company began phasing out Styrofoam
goods at a premium price, while Dunkin’ Donuts and searching for a more sustainable solution, such
promotes low cost and convenience. Each cup as doubling up paper cups or using polystyrene,
communicates with physical interaction as well as a harder, slicker plastic that can be recycled.
logos and graphics. Full or empty, warm or cool, The iconic drawing of the cup remains part of
paper or plastic: a cup of coffee reminds us that life the company’s image even as the thing itself gets
is short and its pleasures rich. harder to find.
\ DUNKIN’
4 DONUTS
AMELICA RUNS On DUNKIA'
PAPER OR PLASTIC Which cup of coffee is more personal?
Which feels better in your hand? Which tastes better when it
reaches your mouth? Which costs more? Which is a better value?
Materials and touch contribute to our experience of flavor and
our memories and beliefs about brands. The rounded shapes of
the Dunkin’ Donuts logo, designed in 1975 by Lucia DeRespinas,
od
aptly visualize the sweet, doughy richness of the brand’s
signature pastry product. The green Starbucks logo conveys a
es
more natural vibe. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
ACT 3 Sensation 147
UNSHELLOHED POWDERED MEDICINE

CHEWING A CARROT AFTER DRINKING COFFEE
BURHED BREAD
DANDELION GREENS
THE FIRST TASTE OF COFFEE
EYE DROPS RUNNING DOWN A THROAT
THE REMAINING AFTER SHAVE ON THE FACE
A MEMORY OF DEFEAT
CITRUS PEEL
RED GINSENG EXTRACT TEA
ORANGE JUICE AFTER BRUSHING TEETH
Rite
De SM SS is) AG
MORHING AFTER HEAVY DRINKING
AH UHRIPE PEACH
FLAT ENGLISH PALE ALE
INSECTS ENTERING THE MOUTH
A ROOT OF A TREE
BILE JUICE
S53% CACAO CHOCOLATE
CHEWING CINHAMOH STICKS
BRUSH TEETH AND DRINK ORANGE JUICE
TIRED CYCLISTS SIT WITH BEER
SUPFAL f CXICKER aes HATCHIZ
SHEgay‘aPaee HARDi
iif
NRE ES
RSGY eR AD ge Be
° ®@ o% ee oe
'e e % ®—
e @ ee
| e e_°Shh @_®
HOWIE THEATER POPCORH

LORE
i 86HLES LAe woODLE SOUP
CRISPY BAUGH IRL ARRORARA
TASTY TYPE Dunkin Donuts’ and other food brands have used responses by creating typefaces with related characteristics.
typography to emulate taste and texture. Smoothy King, She also chose colors and textures to complement each taste.
purveyor of icy fruit-based shakes, has a logo that looks like a Design by Ann Sunwoo.
melting crown. Seeking a more experimental approach, designer
Ann Sunwoo interviewed people about their reactions to basic READ MORE Sarah Hyndman, The Type Taster: How Fonts
tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. She interpreted their Influence You (UK: Type Tasting, 2015).
148 TOOL
Multisensory Design
COLOR AND FLAvor Color makes ice cream taste sweeter, veggies
taste fresher, and coffee taste richer. This phenomenon isn’t
false or misleading—it’s the stuff of lived experience, the
everyday reality of how our senses intermix.
Every time you eat a jellybean, you consume What can designers learn from studies like
a representation. That juicy hue primes your this? Changing the intensity of a color ona
expectations about flavor. Try eating one with your package, fabric, room color, or interface element
eyes closed. Without color, you might be hard- can intensify the content or emotional value
pressed to tell lemon from lime (or from strawberry of the product or place. Colors have strong
or raspberry, for that matter). The hyped-up hue associations with food and flavor, and different
of a jellybean magnifies the hint of flavor hiding foods carry different associations of mood and
beneath the heavy cloak of sweetness. setting. Delivered in the context of words, images,
The sourness of lemon is an aspect of its activities, and other cues, a color palette recalling
taste. Sensors on the tongue pick up five basic tropical fruit or fresh herbs could influence the
tastes: sweet, sour, Salty, bitter, and umami (the response of users. Many designs for food brands
Japanese word for deliciousness). In addition include a range of colors designed to suggest flavor
to sensing these five basic tastes, humans can variations. Different types of tea, such as oolong,
process millions of different aromas, transmitted to Earl Grey, and English Breakfast, look similar when
the brain by olfactory nerves located in the nasal you drink them but have different flavors. Colored
cavity. Without aroma, lemon and lime lack the packaging helps consumers remember how
floral, woodsy notes that come from their unique different teas taste.
botanical makeups. The full phenomenon of flavor Packaging systems for everything from
also includes “mouth-feel” (the crunch of acorn chocolate and vinegar to dish Soap and shampoo
chip and the slippery goodness of guacamole) and graft distinctive color palettes onto flavors and
chemosensory responses (the heat of cayenne and scents. Even a product line with little variation
the coolness of mint). of taste or smell can use color to invoke subtle
Color plays a big role in our experience of sensory differences. Brands of milk graded from
flavor. In a 2004 study of the relationship between zero fat to full fat use color as a memory cue,
color and scent, participants were asked to smell even though these products smell the same;
familiar odors with and without the presence of only their texture registers a slight difference in
a supporting color. Yellow boosted the brain’s mouthfeel. Designers can use hues that suggest
response to the smell of lemons, while brown the smell of flowers or the taste of candy to bring
increased the response to caramel. These effects a sensual dimension to products that are digital or
were measured with fMRI scans while the subjects environmental, from the buttons on an app to the
rated the intensity of the scents. fabrics on furniture.
READ MORE H.A. Roth et al, “Psychological relationships
between perceived sweetness and color in lemon- and lime-
flavored drinks,” Journal of Food Science 53 (1988): 1116-1119; M.
Zampini et al, “The Multisensory Perception of Flavor: Assessing
the Influence of Color Cues on Flavor Discrimination Responses,”
Food Quality and Preference 18, no. 7: 975-84, 2007.
ACT 3 Sensation 149
WHICH DRINK TASTES SWEETER?
TASTE TEST Try these experiments on some willing human subjects.

Add food coloring to a sweet, colorless soda such as Sprite. Does the soda
taste sweeter or more flavorful as the color intensifies? Does the flavor
change if you change the color? Illustrations by Jennifer Tobias.
ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE PALETTE
LEMONADE MARTINI
GREEN TEA RED WINE
CAFE LATTE ORANGE JUICE DOG FARTS
LANGUAGE MATTERS Colors named after appealing foods

and beverages reinforce connections between color and
taste. Giving the colors a different name changes the story.
WHITE LEMON RE CHICKORY

WINE GRAPEFRUIT WINE PEONY
STRAW PRUNE
TASTES panana TASTES s.ueserry
LIKE vycHeEe LIKE raspBeRRY
SULFUR CLOVE
BOXTREE CHERRY
PEANUT STRAWBERRY
MANGO CEDAR
MELON MUSK
LIME TREE HAVANA
BUTTER CHOCOLATE
WHITE PEACH VIOLET
YELLOW PEACH COCOA
QUINCE BLACK CURRANT
CITRUS FRUIT TOBACCO
APRICOT CINNAMON
ALMOND RED CURRANT
FLOWER COAL
PEAR TAR
TOOL 151
Multisensory Design
Red or White? Wine tasters use metaphors to describe aroma. Ina

famous research study, expert tasters tended to compare white
wine to pale elements—such as lemon or straw—while comparing
red wine to dark elements—such as prune and cocoa.
Do you think you could tell white wine from red In 2001, French scientists Gil Morrot, Frédéric
wine if you couldn’t see their colors? The task is not Brochet, and Denis Dubourdieu studied the
as easy as you might guess. Wine connoisseurs use influence of color words on wine tasting. They
language to describe the aromas of wine. Some conducted a series of experiments with fifty-four
of these words are shared among communities wine experts. First, they asked participants to
of tasters and other are developed over time by compare the aromas of two wines, one red and one
individual experts, but these vocabularies share white, using a list of words drawn from established
a striking feature: the words describing white wine-tasting sources. Participants could also use
wines mostly refer to pale or yellow sources their own words.
(white peach, citrus, straw), while the words In asecond session, participants once again
describing red wines favor red or deep-hued described two wines. They didn’t know, however,
objects (tobacco, carbon, raspberry). Considered that these were the same wines from the first
rationally, flavor has no inherent color—a taste session—and one of them had been colored red.
or aroma consists of molecules picked up by Participants were asked to describe the aroma of
receptors on the tongue or in the nose. Evaluating the two wines with words they had chosen in the
taste and smell is not a rational matter, however. first session, including words they had introduced
We make strong emotional connections between themselves. The results were astonishing.
smells, flavors, and colors. We use metaphors to Overwhelmingly, participants used red-wine colors
communicate our responses, such as comparing to describe the white wine that had been dyed red,
the delicate aromas in a glass of white wine to the and they tended to eliminate descriptors used in
aromas (and colors) of mango and straw. round one that refer to light or yellow sources.
150
COLOR TEST In a wine-tasting study, most of the terms

participants used to describe the aromas of white wine refer to
100
pale or yellowish objects (w1). When the same wine was colored
red (Rw2), participants described it mostly with words referring
50
to dark or reddish objects. Adapted from Gil Morrot, Frédéric
Brochet, and Denis Dubourdieu, “The Color of Odors,” Brain and
Language (2001), doi:10.1006/brin.2001.2493. Illustration by
fo) Jennifer Tobias.
wi RI w2 RW2
[Curtains close, and
house lights come up.
Search the area for
personal belongings. |
PNiCseiielae
154 CLINIC
Improve Your Writing
Lanauace Lessons Jed Jecelin, a copywriter for the global sportswear

maker Under Armour, tells a story about writing web text for a company-
sponsored event. The CEO marched angrily into the Jecelin’s office and
said, “Read me the second sentence on the registration page.”
Jecelin wondered what could possibly be wrong But wait, I’m scared. | have writer’s block!
with the very basic prose he had written. Worried,
@ Instead of struggling to compose a brilliant first sentence, list
he began to read the text out loud to his boss: the main points you want to make. Don’t worry about the order.
“if you would like to participate. . .” @ Go back and group your points into sections. A pitch or
“Stop right there,” snapped the CEO. “At Under presentation should have three to five main sections.
Armour we never use the word participate. We @ |f making a list feels too linear, create a word map instead.
Write your main idea in a bubble in the middle ofa sheet of
say compete.” Language expresses personality
paper. Draw more bubbles with points and subpoints.
and point of view. “Participate” sounds friendly @ Do research. Gathering evidence will help you create
and inclusive, while “compete” suggests relentless compelling content. It will also help you defeat writer’s block.
drive and energy. One word works for the brand;
the other one doesn't.
| have notes and a general plan. Now what?
Words are everywhere in design practice.
Products have names. Buildings have signs. @ Start writing in a relaxed, conversational way. Focus on the
Websites have registration pages. A pitch or content, not the words, as if you were speaking to someone.
presentation requires a deck loaded with clear, Later, you can improve the writing style.
@ As you write, focus on being clear, not clever. Focus on the
Snappy text. From headlines and micro-copy to
ideas and information that you want other people to absorb.
instructions and FAQs, well-written copy shapes If your sentences have more secret staircases than a Victorian
an emotional response. Would you rather attend mansion, it’s time to clean house. =
a workshop called “Optimizing Community-Based @ A metaphor can be your best friend or a backstabbing enemy.
Impact for Youth Organizers” or “Social Action Use metaphors to clarify and illuminate concepts, not to create
flowery prose.
for Young Adults”? Good writing welcomes an
audience and sets a tone.
Every sentence tells a story. Every sentence has My text is clear, but it’s deadly dull.
a hero and an action. A sentence can sizzle with
@ Generate intrigue by questioning assumptions. Make readers
suspense or wilt with fatigue. The following tips
curious with phrases such as “You may have learned in school
and techniques will help you improve your writing that. . .” or “One of the biggest mistakes in our industry is. . .”
as well as to prepare effective presentations and @ Introduce counter-arguments. Anticipate objections and
public talks. address them.
@ |magine writing an FAQ for your product or idea. What will
confuse a new user? Posing questions and then answering them
keeps people interested.
@ Read your text out loud and listen for repetition and clunky
phrases. If you think you’re boring, your audience will, too.
@ When you are almost finished, make an outline of what you
READ MORE Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking
have done. For example, if you are producing a slide deck, write
Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century (London: UK
down the main headings. Are they parallel? Do they tell a clear
Allen Lane, 2014); William Knowlton Zinsser, On Writing Well:
story? Reworking the headings can help you restructure your
The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction (New York: Morrow
material.
Quill, 1976).
AFTERMATH
155
FIVE WAYS TO STRENGTHEN YOUR WRITING
Be concrete, not abstract. Show, don’t tell.
AgBsTRACt The three little pigs built houses with a variety of TELL (WEAK) The big bad wolf liked to break things.
construction materials.
SHOW (STRONG) The wolf huffed and he puffed and he blew
concrete The three little pigs built houses with straw, down most of the housing development.
sticks, and bricks.
Avoid converting verbs into nouns.

we
Avoid passive voice. NOUNS (WEAK) “innovation,” “disruption,” “participation”
Building with bricks instead of straw resulted in a disruption
passive The first house was built with straw. of the economy.
” ”
Active The pig built the first house with straw. VERBS (STRONG) “innovate,” “disrupt,” “participate”
Building with bricks instead of straw disrupted the economy.
Use strong verbs to tell a story. Banish filler. Get to the point.
WEAK The wolf was in the driveway. FILLER (WEAK) “I believe that,” “The truth is,” “Like | said”
| believe that we should use bricks, not straw.
STRONG The wolf waited in the driveway.
NO FILLER (STRONG) We should use bricks, not straw.
STRONG The wolf paused in the driveway.
STRONGER The wolf smoked his last Marlboro in the driveway.
KILL YOUR DARLINGS Legendary American novelist William

Faulkner helped make famous the phrase “Kill your darlings.”
Writers must learn to slash—without remorse—their most
beloved passages of pampered prose. Be advised to wait a few
days or weeks, however, before attempting this brutal work, as
time emboldens the cold eye of the editor. The phrase “murder
your darlings” orginated in a 1914 lecture by a now-forgotten
writing professor. See Forrest Wickman, “Who Really Said You
Should ‘Kill Your Darlings’?” Slate, October 18, 2013, http://www.
slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/10/18/_kill_your_darlings_
writing_advice_what_writer_really_said_to_murder_your.html;
accessed July 22, 2017. Illustration by Jennifer Tobias.
156 CLASSROOM DESIGN IS STORYTELLING
Project Generator
TELL SOME stories USe these prompts to inspire quick brainstorming

sessions or in-depth portfolio pieces. Mix and match the methods to
stretch your storytelling skills. Have fun and seek the unexpected!
PROMPT TOPICS TOOLS

RESOURCE SHARING Dog walking 22 Narrative Arc
Design a system for Power tools 26 Hero’s Journey
: Toys 34 Storyboard
sharing products and Internet service 72 Emotional Journey
services with friends Babysitting 82 Co-creation
and neighbors. Grocery shopping 90 Persona
Car pooling
VISUAL INSTRUCTIONS Scramble an egg 22 Narrative Arc

In five steps, create non- owe pete S4 -Storyuoard
‘ : Braid hair
verbal instructions for a A oplyarares
process. Check air in tire
Kern type
SPATIAL PATH Exhibition of local history 22 Narrative Arc

Design a floor plan fora Animal shelter 26 Hero's Journey
; 2 Hot chocolate cafe 72 Emotional Journey
spatial experience. Gourmet hot dog bar 90 Persona
Adult lemonade stand 104 Color and Emotion
Airport security 142 Multisensory Design
SELF HELP Manage anxiety 72 Emotional Journey

Create a product helping Exercise more 82 Co-creation
4 iff Eat more vegetables go Persona
people with different Eat more candy 100 Emoji
backgrounds and Write haiku 104 Color and Emotion
abilities achieve a goal. Make a five-year plan 138 Behavioral Economics
THE FUTURE OF Books 44 Scenario Planning

Imagine what a product Breakfast 50 Design Fiction
"i ; 3 7 Money 90 Persona
or institution will be like en igs. AFrordance
in fifty years. School
PROCESS DIAGRAM Breathing 22 Narrative Arc

Design a diagram ofa Life cycle of frog 34 Storyboard
temporal process Credit card debt 104 Color and Emotion
. Rain 18 The Gaze
Cell division 126 Gestalt Principles
AFTERMATH
157
NEIGHBORHOOD MAP Trees 26 Hero’s Journey

Trash cans 7p Emotional Journey
Create a map that
Ashtrays, smoking areas 126 Gestalt Principles
features several types Storm drains
of information not Bike racks
usually found on maps. Accessible bathroom
Security cameras
EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM Happiness 82 Co-creation

Create a grid of icons hel go Persona
: 4 100 Emoji
Ee ee Hunger 104 Color and Emotion
different feelings or Thirst 126 Gestalt Principles
emotions. Design this Physical pain
visual tool to include pels pain
5 igilance
people who don’t read Gnumpiness
or who have a language Comfort
barrier. Optimism
Boredom
Loneliness
Isolation
PATTERN PLAY Circles 104 Color and Emotion

Create a pattern with Squares 126 Gestalt Principles
: Plants
a repeating element. farrorfornis
Add an element that is Stripes
different and easy to find Polka dots
and one that is different eet
but hard to find. P
ootprints
GENDER NEUTRAL Hair care 82 Co-creation

Create branding and eed sc! Se ls
; Cologne 142 Multisensory Design
package designs for a Basave
family of gender-neutral Makeup
prod ucts. Bathroom signs
NONVISUAL Remote control 82 Co-creation

- Toaster 90 Persona
Pelee pears iat sek Public transit ticket 34 Storyboard
be used by both sighted Map a WAttordaite
people and people who are — Money 142 Multisensory Design
blind or visually impaired. Watch, clock
COLOR CODE Jazz 126 Gestalt Principles

Coffee or tea 142 Multisensory Design
Create a system of
Herbs and spices
colors and shapes Emergency alerts
representing nonvisual Perfume
sensations. Softness/hardness
158 TAKEAWAY ro aN
Storytelling
torytelling Checklist
Checklis if 2 eas ae2)
| - =
Peo Me ES ot
: ad an J a i
:
Use this checklist to amplify the action, emotion, and sensory Vee
\aee S ane ||
impact of your work. Don’t worry about answering every v / | uN |
question. See where these prompts take you as your narrative yey / < ie
skills expand. Vi ee
“Soo a
Sy?
ACTION How does your project depict action?
Are people, objects, or design elements shown in a state of change or potential transformation?
Does your project deliver a call to action to users?
How does the user participate in your project? What will users do with your project?
Have you offered users a chance to embark on a journey? Is their path free or controlled?
Could your project affect someone’s behavior? How might people respond to the work?
EMOTION Does your project express a single dominant mood, or a mood that changes over time?
What moods and emotions might users experience as they engage with your work?
Where will users encounter high and low points of energy, emotion, or feeling?
Where are potential pain points? Where could there be rewards?
Have you used color or imagery to represent emotion or to convey symbolic content?
Have you had an opportunity to build empathy with potential users?
Have you included users in your process?
What is the personality of your project? How is that personality expressed?
SENSATION What visual journeys does your project offer to viewers?
Have you used Gestalt principles to create clear groupings?
Have you engaged viewers in active, creative looking?
Will a user with a specific task in mind find what they are looking for?
Have you used design elements to invite action from users?
Have you engaged senses beyond vision (such as touch, sound, smell, or taste)?
Have you used color, texture, or form to amplify the nonvisual senses?
INDEX 159
Aalto, Alvar, 16 experience economy, 66-70 Medusa, 118 saccades, 115
Abraham, Franki, 99 Faulkner, William, 155 Mehra, Sanjiv, 99 Sagmeister, Stefan, 17
Adler, Deborah, 84 Figure/ground ambiguity, 128 Metamorphosis, 74 Sanders, Elizabeth B.-N., 86
affordance, 13, 132-134 Finlay, Victoria , 105 MICA (Maryland Institute College scenario, 90-94
Alan Penn, 28-29 first-person narrative, 87 ofArt), 9, 13, 117, 144 scenario matrix, 48
Allen, Woody, 36 Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 65 Miller, George, 33 scenario planning, 12, 44-48
Amare, Nicole, 108 focus group, 82, 88 Miller, Ruby, 29 Schaepers, Jochen, 89
Annie Hall, 36 Fodge, Chris, 27 mindfulness, 65 Schmidt, Peter, 53
The American Civil War Museum, 81 Food and Brand Lab, Cornell University Mir, Irina, 95 Schoormans, JanP.L., 96
animation, 34, 42 140 M.L. Kringelbach, 25 Segran, Elizabeth, 99
Anwar, Yasmin, 108 forced connections, 54, 55 Mlodinow, Leonard, 140 service design, 71, 76
Apeloig, Philippe, 129 Ford, Colin, 101 Moholy-Nagy, Laszlo, 30 Shteyngart, Gary, 52
Arledge, Curt, 74, 75, 76 Fred Bottled Water, 96 mood boards, 86 Shulevitz, Uri, 36
association, 87 Freytag, Gustav, 22, 71 Moore, Claire, 49, 55 similarity, 128, 129, 131
Freytag’s pyramid, 22 Morcos Key, 102 simplicity, 128
Ballard, Dana Harry, 136 Morcos, Wael, 102 Singh, Manish, 131
Bayer, Herbert, 30 Gains, Neil, 75 Morrot, Gil, 151 Snider, Grant, 18
Beckerman, Joel, 17 the gaze, 13, 118-124 mouth-feel, 148 Solid Light, Inc., 79-80
Béhar, Yves, 1 Georgiadis, J.R., 25 MTA (Mass Transit Authority), 9 speculative design, 50
behavioral economics, 138-140 Gestalt principles, 13, 126-128 Mugge, Ruth, 96 Spool, Jared M., 64
Bezold, Clement 45 Gilmore, James H., 67-71 multisensory design, 142-150 Stamenovic, Ruzica Bozovic, 107
Boswijk, Albert, 70 Girard, Alexander Hayden, 109 Mulvey, Laura, 120, 121 Stanley, Alessandra, 70, 71
brainstorming, 55, 82 Goltz, Schlomo, 92 Stappers, Pieter Jan, 86
Braudy, Leo, 121 Gottlieb, Jason, 133 Narrative arc, 12, 17, 20, 22-24, 71 Starbucks, 68, 146
Bruesberg, A., 97 Govers, Pascale C. M., 96 National Health Service (Australia), 60 Star Wars, 26
Brignall, Harry, 141 greenwashing, 107 Neitz, Jay, 108 Stein, Alan, 25
Brochet, Frédéric, 151 Guerilla Girls, 121 Nielsen, Jacob, 16, 117, 124 storyboard, 36-41
Niemann, Christoph, 125 Sunstein, Cass R., 43, 141
Campbell, Joseph, 26 Hancock, Trevor, 45 Noé, Alva, 115, 117 Sunwoo, Ann, 147
Candy, Stuart, 52-53 Hart, Jack, 20 Bob Noorda, 9 survey, 86
Casper, 41 hero’s journey, 12, 17, 26-32 Norman, Don, 62-65 symmetry, 128
Chanut is Industries, 23 Heydt, Rlidiger von der, 131 Nussbaum, MarthaC., 63, 65
Chapstick, 99 Hill, Tim, 143 Taylor, Charles W., 46
Chipotle, 32 Holeman, Erica, 54 Oblique Strategies, 53 textile design, 109
choice architecture, 43 Holenstein, Miles, 51 O'Connor, Zena, 105 Thaler, Richard, 41,141
Choi, Hayelin, 35 Homer, 26 Odyssey, 26 The Thing from the Future, 52
Chopt, 33 Hyndman, Sarah, 147 Oedipus Rex, 20, 21 Thijssen, Thomas, 70
Cinderella, 24, 75, 76, 131 Ogilvy, Jay, 49 Thomas, S. B., 70
Clark, Andy, 136 IKEA, 28 Opara, Eddie, 102, 103 Tobias, Jennifer, 30, 37, 45, 47, 48, 53,
Clegg, Alicia, 92 Ingold, Tim, 17 54, 55, 61, 62, 69, 70, 78, 83, 87, 97,
click bait, 140 Palmer, Stephen E., 108, 131 98, 139, 141, 146, 149, 155
closure, 128, 129 Jett, Ben, 79-81 Pan, Yi, 75, 137 Tomine, Adrian, 8
co-creation, 12, 71, 80-88 Johnson, Geoffrey, 75 Pater, Ruben, 105 Torp, Cynthia, 79
Cohen, Marshall, 121 journal. See also diary peak-end rule, 78 Torres, Nicole, 107
color and emotion, 104-110 Joynton, Emily, 90, 91, 93 Peelen, Ed, 70 Twitter, 137
color script, 11 just-in-time representation, 136 Pentagram, 102
colorway, 109 Pepto-Bismol, 99 Um, Tomi, 41
common fate, 128 Kafka, Franz, 74 Pernice, Kara, 117, 124 University of Chicago, 74
conceptual design, 52 Kahneman, Daniel, 78, 79, 141 persona, 90-94 University of Melbourne, 107
cone of plausibility, 45-46 Kale, Ninad, 54 Peters, Andrew, 42 user experience, 38, 62, 71
continuation, 128, 129, 131 Kazim, Sherine, 60, 65 Peterson, Mary A., 131
Cooper, Alan, 92, 93 Key, Jon, 102 Photoshop, 9 Vignelli, Massimo, 9-11
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Khullar, Dhruv, 107 Pine ll, Joseph B., 67-71 Voirol, Tom, 72
Museum, 9, 11, 13, 109, 121, 134 Korilla, 33 Pinker, Steven, 12, 154 Vonnegut, Kurt, 74, 75
The Cooper Union, 9 Kringelbach, Morten L., 25 Pixar Animation Studios, 111
Counter Culture Coffee, 143 Kubovy, Michael, 131 Plutchik, Robert, 61 Wagemans, Johan, 131
Pollan, Michael, 30 Walter, Aaron, 64
dark patterns, 140 labyrinth, 28 positives and negatives, 87 Wang, Yinan, 110, 11
DeRespinas, Lucia, 146 Langford, Joe, 86 PostTypography, 117 Wansink, Brian, 140, 141
design fiction, 12, 50-54 Laurel, Brenda, 70 Powell, Michael, 30 Ware, Colin, 130
diary, 86 Lauwereyns, Jan, 116, 121 Pratt, Sean, 43, 141 Watson, Jeff, 52, 53
Dreyfuss, Henry, 134 Lebbon, Cherie, 65 Prime Studio, 88, 89 Wertheimer, Max, 128
Dubourdieu, Denis, 151 Lee, Kate, 107 product design, 36, 76 Wickman, Forrest, 155
Dunkin’ Donuts, 146 Lee, Stuart Harvey, 88 proximity, 128, 129 The Wizard of Oz, 26
Dunne, Anthony, 52, 53 Lichaw, Donna, 23 Pullasmaa, Juhani, 117 Wolchover, Natalie, 108
Lima, Eric, 88, 89 Wolf, Alan, 88, 89
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 99 Li, Mengyan, 38 questionnaire. See also survey word map, 86
Eisenhower, Mamie, 99 Liu, Louisa, 39 QWERTY, 135 Wright, Jennifer, 99
Elder, James H., 131 Lupton, Ellen, 16, 58, 114
emoji, 100-101 Raby, Fiona, 52, 53 Yarbus, Alfred L., 124
emotional journey, 12, 72-80 Mad Max: Fury Road, 26, 33 Red Antler, 41
empathy, 84 Manning, Alan, 108 Rijksmuseum, 119 Zampini, M., 148
Engstrom, Garron, 75 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 64 roach motel, 140 Zinsser, William Knowlton , 154
Eno, Brian, 53 McDonagh, Deana, 60, 65, 85, 86, 144 Roth, H.A., 148 Zurn, Christof, 92, 94
EOS (Evolution of Smooth), 99 McDonagh-Philp, Deana, 97 rule of threes, 40-42
exhibition design, 30, 79-80 McDonald’s, 32
experience design, 71, 78 McNeil, DonaldG., 11
THE HERO'S
JOURNEY
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BOOK DROP
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OF THE WHALE

ARRAS
; By using a female voice as the protagonist,
COOPER 7 Lupton makes us realize how accustomed
we are to the gender imbalance in graphic
HEWITT design. Critical voices such as hers are what
; . we need in graphic design.—Ruben Pater,
¥e Smithsonian Design Museum
author of The Politics of Design
bY
‘Good design, like good storytelling, brings ideas to This playfully illustrated toolkit for
life. Design Is Storytelling is a playbook for creative creative storytelling makes invisible
thinking, showing designers how to use narrative patterns visible. —Liz Danzico, Chair,
techniques to create satisfying graphics, products, MFA Interaction Design, School of
services, and experiences. Whether crafting a Visual Arts
digital app or a data-rich publication, designers
invite people to enter a scene and explore what’s
there. An intriguing logo, page layout, or public Good design connects people through
space uses form and communication to lead users shared experience. This book helps
on dynamic journeys. designers peel back the layers of
: : narrative to make delightful, powerful
Design Is Storytelling explores the psychology of work.—Jason Santa Maria, Design
visual perception from a narrative point of view. Director, Slate
Presenting dozens of tools and concepts ina lively,
‘
visual manner, this book will help designers amplify
the narrative power of their work. Use this book to
stir emotions, build empathy, and convey action; Good design takes you on a journey
to construct narrative arcs and create paths from confusion to clarity and from
through space; and to evaluate a project’s disengagement to delight. Ellen
storytelling power. Prompts for students and Lupton tells the stories behind these
teachers make this a great classroom companion. journeys, and reveals a new way
of thinking about the process of
ELLEN LUPTON has authored and coauthored numerous hooks design. —Michael Bierut
on design, including Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial,
How Posters Work, Beautiful Users: Designing for People, Graphic
Design: The New Basics, and Thinking with Type. She is senior
curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Funny, functional, and feminist!
Design Museum in New York City, and director of the Graphic —Little Red Riding Hood
Design MFA program at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art)
in Baltimore. She received the AIGA Gold Medal for Lifetime
Achievement in 2007.
Cover design by Jason Gottlieb
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NAN SSM

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DISTRIBUTION (UNITED STATES) BY

3 Smithsonian Design Museum ISBN 978-1-942303-19-0

112 Act3/| Sensation

Caroline Baumann, Director

Once upon atime, museums were staid palaces of culture. These

Ellen Lupton, Senior Curator of Contemporary Design

| first approached my colleagues at Cooper It has been my privilege to be a student myself

Illustration by Adrian Tomine

I first heard the statement “Design is problem solving” when I was

iE PREMIUM LUBRICATED LifeStyles" LATEX COND

designers have approached feminism, the body, and the user.

A young woman approached me recently after a lecture

Act III, “Sensation,” focuses on perception and cognition.

Illustration by Ellen Lupton

At a conference in New Orleans, a young designer asked me what

Gale SPOR ICO AS WEIR

Designers sometimes think of a building, chair, or poster

One of the most famous tales in Western literature is

LOOKS LIKE A ROLLER COASTER In the words of

The Sphinx blocking the gates of Thebes asks every traveler

In 1863, the German playwright and novelist

NARRATIVE ARC— ...the wolf

The second oan of

APPLYING THE The WolfCam

PRODUCT DESIGN sound.

The Magical WolfCam

Wolf shows up van The magical sound

Pig is constantly Pig is forever free of

FOOD AND SEX—

FOOD PLEASURE CYCLE

WANTING LIKING LEARNING/

SEX PLEASURE CYCLE

WANTING LIKING LEARNING/

The circular pattern of the hero’s journey

ROUND AND ROUND Joseph Campbell traced the hero’s journey

MAZE Puzzle designed to confuse LABYRINTH Long, guided path

guipep patu A visit to a mall or supermarket can be as a harrowing

ODYSSEY OF THE SUPERMARKET The healthier food ina

READ MORE Herbert Bayer and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy,

SYMMETRY VS. ASYMMETRY Classical

ODD-SHAPED ROOMS Exhibition designers

ONE PATH, ONE STORY Curators and

FAST FOOD DRAMA SCHOOL

RESTAURANT AS THEATER Designing a fast-food business involves more

Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland,

Telling stories with a sequence of images is an

Illustration by Hayelin Choi

Zoom in. Zoom in.

Yayoi Kusama appears.

DESIGNING A SATISFYING story There is a famous joke that is funny

In a satisyfing narrative, the main action is Ingredients of a Story

READ MORE Uri Shulevitz, Writing with Pictures:

There are three ways this

THINKING WITH sTorYBoaRDS Designers use storyboards to communicate

Your willflower is ready Did you do what

adi is SU os cn t—| ask if user achieved goal. | > |

Nice! You are one step You'll get it next time. It