Feeling the Design
The interplay between emotion and attention, and its effect on UX
Emotions hold a significant place in various aspects of human behaviour, such as attention and decision-making. Exploring the relationship between emotion and attention offers us invaluable insights, enabling us to create designs that resonate with users and elevate user experience. This article delves into the effect of emotion on users' attention to design, emphasising the importance of considering users' emotional states when designing products.
Emotion and Attention
Research in cognitive psychology has consistently shown a powerful interplay between emotion and attention, both of which guide our understanding of the world around us. James Russell's Circumplex Model of Affect proposes that all emotions can be represented as points in a circular space containing two dimensions: arousal or activation (level of excitement) and valence (level of pleasure or positivity) (Russell, 1980). These two dimensions of emotion have a significant effect on how attention is allocated.
High-arousal emotions (e.g. Fear), whether positive or negative, tend to capture attention more effectively than low-arousal emotions. This effect can be understood within the framework of Lang, Bradley, and Cuthbert's (1997) motivated attention theory, which argues that emotional stimuli that are highly arousing receive preferential processing because they often signal biologically relevant information. This theory if applied to design suggests that elements that evoke high-arousal emotions could more effectively draw users' attention. For example, big red buttons are associated with high-arousal emotions and are more likely to attract user attention.
The valence of emotions (how positive an emotion is) also plays a role. For example, Eastwood, Smilek, and Merikle (2001) proposed that negative stimuli might have a "negativity bias," capturing attention more effectively than positive stimuli. This means that elements invoking negative emotions are more likely to be noticed by users. Thus, when designing we should carefully consider the emotional connotations of various design elements to avoid inadvertently directing users' attention towards negative aspects of the products.
However, while negative emotions might draw attention more effectively, they can also narrow the focus of attention, as demonstrated by Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory. Positive emotions, on the other hand, broaden the scope of attention, which can help users explore and understand a product more thoroughly. This suggests a trade-off between capturing attention and facilitating exploration.
Research has also shown that emotions shape the way users allocate their attention to different aspects of a product. Fredrickson and Branigan's (2005) research shows that negative emotions lead users to focus on an image's central area, whereas positive emotions prompt them to process the entire image, which is consistent with the broaden-and-build theory. This finding implies that users in positive emotional states can manage their attention more effectively, making them more adaptable and creative in their cognitive processes. Consequently, positive emotions often result in increased attention allocation.
The Role of Emotions in Product Design
What does this all mean for UX Professionals? We need to be mindful of users' potential emotional states and how these emotions influence their attention and decision-making. Users' attention is affected by both bottom-up (stimulus-driven) and top-down (goal-oriented) processes. By examining the distribution of visual attention for product elements under various emotional states, we can better understand user decision-making behaviour and create designs that cater to users' needs and preferences.
Balancing Functionality and Aesthetics in Design
In product design, functionality and aesthetics both play crucial roles in shaping users' perceptions and experiences. Previous research categorised product feature factors into two primary groups: function and aesthetics. Users in negative emotional states tend to focus more on functional characteristics, seeking security and reliability. Conversely, users in positive emotional states are more drawn to aesthetic features, which correlate with satisfaction and relaxation (Zhao et al., 2023).
We should prioritise functional aspects, like interaction modes and sequences, to create positive first impressions for users in negative emotional states. Simultaneously, we should emphasise aesthetic elements, such as colour, material, and shape, to engage users in positive emotional states.
Emotional Design Considerations
In real life users are seldom in a neutral emotional state before using a product. Consequently, understanding the emotional foundation of users in various scenarios is essential for effective design planning.
By taking into account users' emotional states we can create products that resonate with users and enhance their experience. This can be achieved by researching the allocation of attention to products and exploring design adjustments that cater to users' emotional states.
Emotion in Design: Practical Applications
Here are some strategies we can use in order to make the most out of the interplay between emotion, attention, and design:
Emotional mapping: We should begin by mapping the user journey and identifying the emotional touchpoints users may experience during their interactions with the product. This can help us anticipate users' emotional responses and create appropriate design elements to support these emotions.
Design for emotional peaks: We should strive to create emotional peaks within the user journey, using positive emotions to amplify users' attention and engagement. This can be achieved through the purposeful use of colours, typography, imagery, and animations, all of which can evoke emotions that resonate with users.
Feedback and reinforcement: Providing users with feedback and reinforcement can help build positive emotional connections between users and the product. For example, we can incorporate progress indicators, success messages, or celebratory animations to acknowledge users' achievements and encourage continued engagement.
Know your user: It is important to understand users' emotional states and create designs that support and validate their feelings. We can achieve this by conducting user research and implementing design principles that prioritise users' emotional well-being. Conducting research with users can help us identify their emotions during the user journey and test our assumptions. We can also use existing feedback (e.g., feedback surveys, customer support data) to do this.
Emotion significantly impacts user attention and product design. Recognising the influence of emotion on users' attention can help us create more effective and engaging designs. By considering users' emotional states and designing products that cater to their needs and preferences, we can improve user experience and cultivate positive emotional connections between users and their products.
A Favour
I’m conducting a short study to better understand how UX professionals use AI in their work and how they feel about it. If you have a few minutes to spare, can you help me out by completing the survey or sharing it with your network? The results will be shared with the community!
Another excellent piece, Dr. Maria! :))