Emotion and Design
After almost a century of neglect within psychology, emotion has emerged as a powerful driver of our behaviour, decision-making and life strategies. Its emergence reflects major advances in our understanding of the brain, and provides a focus for research in such diverse areas as cognitive neuroscience and evolutionary psychology. Naturally, it permeates our responses to designed objects and, as such, has entered the design arena.
As a new field there are considerable research opportunities. The research projects currently underway are:
The Mere Exposure effect: This investigates the effect of mere exposure to a design as influencing liking for the design. A considerable body of evidence exists showing that even very brief exposures influence liking…..and that the brain evaluates objects literally in microseconds.
Modelling product evaluation: Various components of the product evaluation process have been identified. These are being incorporated into a model that permits interactive access and seeks to provide a system that is useful for designers in a commercial environment.
A neuroevolutionary model of design evaluation: Attempts to understand why we like one design over another have been hampered by a 19C view of both people and aesthetics. Recent scientific advances cast doubt upon this model. This research focuses upon current models of human liking, in particular Appraisal Theory and the Collative-Motivation model.
Research Staff
Professor Allan Whitfield
Professor Gitte Lindgaard (Carleton University, Canada)
Research Students
Clementine Thurgood (Psychophysiologist)
Emily Wright (Multimedia Designer)
Raja Ahmad Effendi (Industrial Designer)
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