An approach exploiting the interplay between elicited emotions and product design to improve business competitiveness

Abstract

The elicitation of a human emotion, may be regarded as a consequence of the interaction between the human individual and the properties of the designed system. In addition, elicited emotions have a capacity to influence the behavior of the individual experiencing them. Research into product design and emotions has so far exploited the interplay between the emotions elicited from customers and their purchase behavior, in order to improve business competitiveness. Yet this relatively new area of research, has been limited to the consideration of human-product interactions that take place during the use phase. The research work presented in this paper extends the notion of human-product interactions across the entire life-cycle of the product. In addition to customers, the research work considers the emotions elicited from human life-phase workers who interact with the artefact during phases which precede and follow the use phase. The paper contributes with an approach which is intended to support design teams in eliciting desirable emotions from both workers and customers. The motivation behind this approach is that the competitiveness of a business can be further improved, by exploiting the interplay between the elicited emotions and the change in human behavior across multiple life-cycle phases.