We should design things to convey whatever personality and emotions are desired

“Everything has a personality: everything sends an emotional signal. Even where this was not the intention of the designer, the people who view the website infer personalities and experience emotions. Bad websites have horrible personalities and instill horrid emotional states in their users, usually unwittingly. We need to design things–products, websites, services–to convey whatever personality and emotions are desired.” – Don Norman

Read more in Don’s interview with Johnny Holland: “Design Research and Innovation.”

1. Design products that appeal to both cognition and emotion for a competitive advantage
2. Prototyping has given us the power to show and tell the story of our design solutions
3. Design is really about the way products and services come to life
4. We need to build products that bring joy and excitement to people’s lives
5. Good design shapes our expectation of what the experience can be