A Good Design = A Good Mate

Industrial design has, in recent history, undergone a shift from form and function based design to “user- centered” and emotional design. As we’ve come to understand the value of emotionally connecting with consumers, the responsibilities of the contemporary industrial designer have grown. To be truly effective in this emotion-driven new space, designers must broaden their knowledge base to include fields like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Design is about understanding people. Using everything in their arsenal, designers try to create products that not only meet but exceed customers’ expectations; products that are so smart they anticipate their needs; products that adapt to changing situations; products that never fail when needed most; products that make people feel good about themselves; and even products that get more beautiful with age. As if designing an ideal mate, we want people to fall in love with what we create. Social psychologists have for years studied and researched what it is that defines an ideal mate. In this paper, I argue that good design is a good mate, and I illustrate the direct links between the top traits of an ideal mate, as determined by social psychologists, and the traits most desired in good design. But insight is only my first step. To facilitate the application of these insights, I have developed a series of helpful design strategies that link to each desired trait. Created as a deck of inspiration cards, designers can call upon these strategies when they wish to imbue their work with any of these emotionally potent traits