MEANINGFUL INTERACTIONS

Dr. Will Kurlinkus

 WEB DESIGN: DON’T MAKE ME THINK

• Don’t Make Me Think: Web design should be obvious and self-explanatory.

Don’t create frustration and confusion. Let a user accomplish tasks as easily
as possible.
 • Which objects are most meaningful in our
lives?
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI • Which interactions are most meaningful?
MEANING OF THINGS
• Customization vs. personalization
 WHAT SYSTEMS OF
MEANING DOES YOUR
DESIGN EXIST WITHIN?
 EMOTIONAL
DESIGN

1. When are users/customers

at emotional high and
emotional low points
during your experience?
2. What key emotions occur
during your problem and
solution journey?
3. Passive vs. activating
emotions
 KANO MODEL
OF DELIGHT

• Musts/Dissatisfiers:
fundamental requirements. There
presence doesn’t make users
happy but their absence does
make them dissatisfied. (brakes
on a car)
• Satisfiers/Wants: bonuses that
customers can live without but
the more present the more
happy. Once experienced they
become musts. (heated seats)
• Delighters and Exciters:
bonuses that are unexpected and
don’t become musts--surprises
THINK OF A MUST, SATISFIER,
AND DELIGHTER FOR YOUR
PROCESS
a customer needs to cancel a flight booking,
but it will incur a steep penalty since there is
no cancellation window left. This
induces anxiety. However, there is
an unexpected resolution. The airline U N E X P E C T E D : W H E N WA S T H E L A S T
company informs the customer that the T I M E A P RO D U C T O R D E S I G N
refund amount has been transferred to a P O S I T I V E LY S U R P R I S E D YO U ?
wallet, and can be used for a booking in the
future. As a result, the customer is relieved
and raves about their experience on social
media.
WHAT IS MEMORABLE UX?
 N A R R ATA B I L I T Y : T H E
A P P E T I T E TO PA RT I C I PAT E I N
A N D R E C O U N T N O S TA L G I C
S TO R I E S A B O U T D E S I G N S .

• What and why do we remember

stories for people?
• Behavioral residue: something
leftover after the experience to act
as a platform for stories (a
souvenir, t-shirt after running a
marathon, and I voted sticker)
• Delighters are memorable: small
unexpected surprises vs. expected
rewards (“hey, look what I got!”) +
Easter Eggs (secrets/surprises
revealed with repeated play)
• We propel word-of-mouth/sharing
with our fiends.
 HOW MIGHT YOU GET
PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT
YOUR DESIGN? WHAT
MIGHT THEY SAY?
CRAFT: THE POSITIVE MEMORIES AND HUMAN
C O N N E C T I O N S G A I N E D F RO M C O N T R I B U T I N G TO T H E L I F E
C Y C L E O F A N O B J E C T.

• The IKEA effect: People value things more if they took part
in making them (even if a little bit)
• The ecology of care surrounding an object (its aura+my
grandma made this for me): connects us to people across
time
• Objects that age with grace: How can you make your
experience get better with use?
WHAT CRAFT INTERACTIONS MIGHT
YOU ADD TO YOUR DESIGN: GETTING
YOUR USER TO MAKE/CONTRIBUTE?
CONNOISSEURSHIP: SHARING IN
COMMUNAL CONSUMPTION AND A
TASTE FOR PLAYING WITH TIME
THAT REQUIRE MEMORABLE
RITUALS AND TRADITIONAL
KNOWLEDGE AS BADGES OF
MEMBERSHIP

• Focusing and slowing

consumption (learning to
become a part of a community):
wine tasting, chocolate tasting,
ritualizing, oreos, blue moon
beer
• Rewarding communities of
”forensic fans” who deeply
engage with and nerd-out on
your project
WHAT TYPES OF RITUALS MIGHT
YOU ADD TO YOUR DESIGN TO
FOCUS USERS’ ATTENTIONS
 DECEPTIVE
PATTERNS OF
INTERACTION

• A deceptive or dark pattern is a

type of user interface that
appears to have been carefully
crafted to trick users into doing
things that are not in their
interest and is usually at their
expense. —Harry Brignull
1. Confirm Shaming
2. Hidden Costs
3. Forced Continuity
 E M OT I O N A L
M A N I P U L AT I O N T H AT
ISN’T POSITIVE:
CONFUSING DESIGN

• Gruen transfer: the

moment when consumers
enter a shopping mall or
store and, surrounded by
an intentionally confusing
layout, lose track of their
original intentions, making
them more susceptible to
making impulse buys.
W H AT K I N D O F D E C E P T I O N O R
N E G AT I V E E M OT I O N A L
M A N I P U L AT I O N M I G H T YO U A D D
TO YO U R D E S I G N TO G E T U S E R S
TO R E AC H T H E I R G OA L S ?