Humans, though cute and cuddly, are not without their flaws, which makes it a challenge to design for them. By understanding how the wet, mushy processor works in these hairy little devils, you can design interfaces and web experiences that will have them hopelessly devoted to your brand. Aarron will introduce you to the emotional usability principle—a design axiom that identifies a strong connection between human emotion and perceived usability. Through real-world examples, you’ll learn practical interface design techniques that will make your sites and applications more engaging to the humans they serve.

1. learning to love
humansemotional interface design
I come in peace.

2. change

3. less private

4. needs
Scanning network for
p2p companionship.
Eat my lead, sucker.

5. Maslow

6. physiological
safety
love/belonging
esteem
self-
actualization

7. physiological
safety
love/belonging
esteem
self-
actualization
humans
need this
stuff

8. from
computers

9. functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable

10. functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable
humans need
this stuff

11. functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable

12. functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable
missing

13. the bar
is low

14. edible
usable=

15. edible
usable
=

16. photo credit freezelight

17. photo credit morberg

18. usable

20. pleasurable

22. personality

23. a platform
for emotion

24. products are
people too

25. firmware
My operating system is
designed to serve humans.
Aim for the crotch boys.
Roger that.

26. gestalt

28. contrast

29. cost / benefit

30. good for me?
bad for me?

33. photo credit Hamed Saber

35. example of poor
contrast in a web page
http://passfail.squarespace.com/
http://passfail.squarespace.com/

37. Experiencing thermal increase
in thoracic region.
emotion

38. photo credit D. Norwood

39. photo credit David Clow

40. People will forgive shortcomings,
follow your lead, and sing your
praises if you reward them with
positive emotion.
emotional design principle

41. photo credit Simon Davison

42. we see
ourselves

43. personality
invites
empathy

46. I adore the way their
apps look and sound.
- John Gruber, DaringFireball.net
“
”

47. A fantastic, fun, and
functional interface on a
seriously great app.
- 148apps.com
“
”

48. We did want our users to have an
emotional connection to our apps.
Most people don't have a love/joy for
software like geeks do.
- Mark Jardine, TapBots Designer
“
”

52. I really *LOVE* the singing bird
when you send a tweet. Twitter is
fun all of a sudden!
- @thetalldesigner
“
”

53. Confession: sometimes I make too
long Feathers-tweets just to watch
the bird turn red.
- @evbjone
“
”

54. Before your application can create
an emotional relationship with the
user it must get the basics right. The
emotional relationship, the delight,
is what you layer on top of this base
usability and technical competency.
- Aral Balkan, designer of Feathers
“
”

55. The inspiration for our color p
corporate gray to brand their
windowless office and so we i
My goal was to design Wufoo
excellent at what it does, it wa

56. The inspiration for our color palette did
come from our competitors. It was really
depressing to see so much software
designed to remind people they’re making
databases in a windowless office and so we
immediately knew we wanted to go in the
opposite direction.
- Kevin Hale, Wufoo
“
”

57. treats

60. Oh MailChimp monkey. Just as I get
frustrated w/ wrangling email
addresses, you’re there w/ your
little witticisms to cheer me up.
- @p_girl
“
”

63. conditioning

64. photo credit crash-candy

65. Whoa, I just logged into MailChimp
and the little monkey in the corner
says "hey Kate, new haircut? !Muy
guapo!" how do they know?!
- @katemiss
“
”

66. discoverydiscovery

74. http://photojojo.com/

75. doubts
Does this armor make my
ports look big?
Affirmative.

76. skeptics

78. Trust was the most critical barrier
for us to overcome with potential
users. It was an uphill battle raising
venture capital because investors
simply didn't think people would
ever share bank credentials.
- Jason Putorti
“
”

79. Trust is a gut feeling more than a
rational process, and visual design
affects emotions in a very powerful
way, perhaps more than any other
stimuli.
- Jason Putorti
“
”

80. You will comply or be
destroyed.
forgiveness

82. photo credit 1978seymour

83. photo credit kahala

84. photo credit 1978seymourphoto credit theunabonger

85. emotional
collateral

86. Four is too many.
limits

87. attention
is finite

89. gestalt
fails

90. Occam’s
razor

92. Attractive things make people feel
good, which in turn makes them
think more creatively. How does
that make something easier to use?
Simple, by making it easier for
people to find solutions to the
problems they encounter.
- Donald Norman
“
”

93. Too many records to process.
Entering sleep mode.
lazy

94. least
resistance

95. bribery

101. Inserting anal probe.
This won’t hurt a bit.
risk

102. party
poopers

103. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
people poop
on parties
0.007%

104. progressively
enhance

105. functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable

106. start small

112. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
page views
600%

113. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
traffic
300%

114. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
Facebook Fans
217%

115. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
Twitter Followers
170%

116. - Pageviews: form ~5/visitor to ~30/visitor over the course of the hunt.
- Traffic tripled on the first few days of the hunt.
- Facebook fans grew from < 600 to over 2300.
- Twitter followers went from ~1000 to over 1700.
- It generated 41 threads in our forums with 3700+ posts and ~55,000 views
posts in forum
3,700+

117. Just can’t let it go. Into my third day
now. Ashamed of how many hours
I’ve spent.
- Paintbrush, forum user
“
”

118. So pleased to have found this
software. I’ve wanted it for a while
and was saving up. Now I can treat
myself to some of the other
software I’ve been trying during my
5 hour egg hunt.
- Jane Hasseldon, Facebook fan
“
”

119. have we
changed?

120. more
human

121. I have special feelings
for you. Assume cuddle
formation.
thanks

122. @aarron
AarronWalter.com

123. @aarron
AarronWalter.com