When a development team creates a new application, they usually pay more attention to functionality than the visual design. In other words, design is just as important as functionality. Donald Norman, the author of Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, stated that usable designs are not necessarily enjoyable to use. In order for users to have a positive experience with the application, it must be designed in a way that is pleasing to them. Designs like this one can make people feel happy emotions like delight, joy, and satisfaction.
More and more people are choosing this type of design solution today. Emotional design can give a company a huge boost in the competition because it is visually appealing and engaging. It also acts as a trigger. This approach to web design is based on providing users with a great experience. It builds on the emotional reaction of users when interacting with an application by providing them with a more personalized experience.
When designers are creating a layout, they imagine what the finished product will look like. Too much focus on the technical and functional aspects results in artwork that is flat and lacking emotion.
What is emotional design?
All interfaces are created to help users solve specific problems. An emotional user interface design is a visual product that is both unique and convenient. It helps you connect more deeply with your users.
The background and elements of the page should create a specific emotion. In most cases, emotions should be positive. If you were to create an app for Tesla car owners, your social network design should reflect theTesla brand identity of being elitist and minimalist. The social network app for football players will have a different focus. The key elements that different audiences use to express certain emotions, like joy, sadness, delight, or anger, vary depending on the audience.
What are the characteristics of a well-designed interface? How can you tell if an interface is bad? The most important criterion for judging a piece of software is whether or not its user interface produces any emotional reaction. If a website or app doesn’t effectively communicate emotion, it may not be as engaging. The user will not be made to feel like the product is an extension of themselves. It’ll be tough to build a connection with the product, and people will give up on it quickly.
If your visual design is not emotionally appealing, it will turn users away and will not meet business goals. It is better to formulate the message of design at the development stage, based on our rich experience. As designers, it is essential for us to get a buyer portrait from the client to ensure that our interface design will drive the corresponding emotional response.
Altamira has a number of successful projects that focus on emotional design. Surf & Yoga is a social media site for people who are interested in surfing and yoga.
This interface is a great example of what emotional design is meant to achieve. The site hasmessages which users canwith. The goal of this design decision is to inspire people to join this community and become athletic and happy.
How to choose emotions to fill the interface
The main goal for designers is to accurately show the emotions that would resonate with the social media platform’s intended demographic. What feelings would catch their attention? How can you make a good impression on users to convince them to use your app again?
You can start the design process with a general understanding of the emotional context that is needed. It is better to analyze your audience before you give a presentation. This is something that our experience has taught us. Here are a few simple steps that we do for our clients during the discovery stage:
- We communicate with the client to gather all the requests about design and functionality.
- We study which emotions your future product should evoke; in the case of social networks, it is worth researching similar platforms. This is to find out what excites users and what emotions they usually experience when interacting with your niche elements.
- Then we step into your client’s shoes for a while. This approach helps to look at the future product through the eyes of its potential uses.
- Competitor analysis helps to access both their strengths and weaknesses.
- At this point, we present the results of our research to a client. At such moments, we brainstorm new ideas and theories that would give our platform a competitive advantage.
- It’s important for us to receive regular feedback, so we really appreciate having requests and suggestions outlined before the project even starts.
It is essential to understand how emotions work. The feeling is not simply one emotion like anger or sadness, but is instead a blend of various emotions. However, for design purposes, it would be enough to capture one or two basic feelings and emotions.
Here are 10 ways in which designers can bring out various emotions through social media design:
1. Similar Interests:
Although it may seem easy to find something that is relatable, there is more to it than meets the eye. People give off hints about what they’re looking for through their search behavior, and you can provide them with the best possible option because they chose something similar before. If a product or service is recommended to someone based on what others have also selected, that person is likely to follow the recommendation.
This means that if you focus on making your content and design relatable to your target audience, you will be more likely to keep them engaged over a longer period of time. These are the customers you want to keep around for a long time. They’re the ones who will keep coming back.
2. Meme Culture:
We all love memes because they are created as a collective experience. Cats have been in charge of memes for a long time. By using meme techniques to improve your product or service, you can create a content-rich experience that allows you to connect with a larger potential customer base.
The internet is full of memes, and they’re having a major impact on young people. If you want to be popular with the younger generation, just create a meme. Since memes can communicate any emotion, they are generally accepted. You can easily evoke any emotion with a meme, without offending anyone.
3. Represent Desire:
Desire is a powerful emotion that can sell products. The more you make your product/services desirable, the more people will want to use them. If you make an effort to implement the law of attraction in your social media design, you will receive more attention.
It’s an unspoken rule in marketing that consumers don’t know what they need–it’s the seller or marketer who brings out the need in the consumer through their product. The marketer makes the consumer know what he needs. In that case, eye contact is the first step Whenever a designer is creating something, they must make sure that it accurately reflects what the viewer wants, or what will generate a desire in the viewer. In that case, making sure that the design catches the eye is the first step. The brand can be represented by the desire of the viewers.
4. Single Emotion:
What is the most important thing that a designer misses to ask their client? Emotion is needed to be felt by the viewers or potential customers. After the designer understands the purpose of the project, they can create a design that will evoke the desired emotion. It is essential to keep the designs interactive and which also generates curiosity, happiness, nostalgia and much more. When trying to communicate a specific emotion, it is important to focus on that one emotion and not try to convey multiple emotions, as this can create confusion.
It is better to focus on a single emotion and express it clearly, which would keep the customer interested in your design and product. If the designer only focuses on one emotion in their design, it is obvious that they will hit the right spot and be rewarded by their satisfied client.
5. Big Eyes + Quirk = Cuteness Overload:
Although women are a significant part of your target audience, making content cute doesn’t mean it’s feminine. “Aww! Isn’t it adorable!” Cuteness is the notion you’re tapping. A wide range of products/services designed to be attractive and appealing to a wider audience.
People appreciate cuteness in different ways. The quirkiness can add to the benefit. Your advertising should be aimed at kids to convince their parents to buy your product. Most customers tend to prefer designs with cute content that makes them feel weak. If a design has content that is as cute as puppy eyes, there is no denying that everyone will fall for it.
6. Comic essence:
When we say that laughter is the best medicine, we mean that it can also be a good solution for content-driven companies. Indeed it acts one. Sometimes we all need a break from our usual routine. This step is an extension of the previous point, which was about turning a smile into a burst of laughter. The design should be such that it can display rich content in a short, bold, and bright narrative. In addition, with memes taking over the internet, humor is recommended.
When you add something humorous to your social media design, people will promote it for you. That’s the power of humor. Laughter is a universal emotion that connects people from all walks of life. One of the factors that contributes to the global appeal of social media design is its sense of humor.
7. Wow factor:
Marketers capitalize on this emotion to draw in more of an audience, who are then more likely to remain engaged with the content for a longer period of time. If you want to make your design more attention-grabbing, try adding a “wow” element. This will make it more adaptive to the content and more likely to hold the attention of customers. The design of social media platforms needs to be wow-inducing in order to be successful.
One way to evoke emotions from your audience is by catching them off guard. Companies use certain techniques to make their language recognizable to consumers. However, some brands choose to shift their patterns while designing, based on the need. When the brand language is quirky, everything works for it. You just need to create a brand image that will make customers say “wow.” The design must have the wow factor to make sure the customers stay.
8. Trending Issues:
Just because you’re aware of something doesn’t mean you’re up to date with it. It is important for you to share your opinion on current issues. Similar Interests is an extension of Trending Issues, but here your opinion matters on a much larger scale. When you take a stand or express your opinion on a trending issue as a designer or brand, people tend to appreciate it.
If you want your designs to be popular, make sure they are related to current trends. To be successful, all you need to do is stay up-to-date with current trends and create designs based on them. The feedback you receive will be worth it. When your designs reference current trends, your audience will know that you’re more active than other designers. Your brand’s introduction to an audience who is unaware of it will happen through the design, and they will likely choose your brand as a result. One way to connect with your audience and evoke emotions through social media design is by using colors.
In conclusion
Emotional design is a path for success. A functional and useful UI and thoughtful UX will keep your users, but emotions will make them love your app.
To catch the right emotion, you need to know your user first. Don’t neglect the research stage and audience analysis. When you have data that supports your idea, you can use all the features available to create an engaging social network design.
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