Sensory Dominance in Product Experience

People perceive the material world around them with their five senses. Information from different sensory modalities is integrated in the brain to create a stable and meaningful experience of objects, including industrial products that accompany us in our everyday life. Some of the sensory systems play a more important role in product experience than others. Designing pleasurable products can enrich user satisfaction and contribute to the well-being of people and society. While designing products, it is important for designers to be aware of the complex relationships between various sensory product properties. The aim of this research was to understand which sensory modalities are more important for specific product experiences, and how product experience can be influenced by various combinations of sensory stimuli in products. We investigated the relative importance of various sensory modalities at different stages of product usage, for specific product experiences (freshness, naturalness, warmth, and noisiness), and for different groups of users. This thesis has demonstrated that the importance of sensory modalities may depend on the stage of user-product interaction, on the specific experience that designers aim to induce, and on the language differences between users. Other factors (such as individual differences or situational variables) may also play a role in sensory dominance. Therefore, research on this topic should continue in the future