Reconciling Affective and Ergonomic Objectives of Product Design

Abstract

This paper describes a methodology for optimizing the pleasurable affects of a product's design without mitigating ergonomic imperatives. Drawn from well-established principles of psychology and information science, it has been developed and applied in both educational and professional settings. A designer employs it by manipulating just four of a product's visual properties: contrast (objective information); novelty (subjective information); and two properties called objective concinnity and subjective concinnity that facilitate a viewer's ability to process the design's inherent information quickly enough to derive affective pleasure and/or ergonomic benefit from it.

Keywords: Aesthetic Valence, Affective-Cognitive Lag, Arousal, Collateral Information, Contrast, Discretionary Information, Empathic Communication, Essential Information, Novelty, Objective Concinnity, Semantic Profile, Stereotype, Subjective Concinnity

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100567