At InfoCamp Seattle 2010, Aaron Louie discusses the concept of awesomeness, why emotion matters in design, and how to design mind-blowing experiences.

1. The Design of
Everyday Awesome Things
AWESOME
Aaron Louie Twitter: @ajlouie

2. 5 most awesome things

3. Life Internet Time Travel Oxygen Cleavage Music Pizza A Nap Friday Physical
intimacy Money Lasers Technology Electricity The Sun Lightsaber Lightning Ninjas
Chocolate Sunlight Barbecue Bacon Intelligence Mom Leonardo da Vinci The
Atmosphere Jet Pack Lego Liquid DNA French Kiss Star Wars Super Nintendo
Take-out Nature Beer Outer Space Ice Cream Puppy Irony Tetris Computer
Earth Velociraptor Skinny Dipping Thumbs French Fries Batman Dreams Ice
cream sandwich Jedi Fire Super Powers Princess Leia's Metal Bikini Bruce Lee Han
Solo Steak Cheese Wikipedia Tyrannosaurus Solar Eclipse Super Mario Brothers
Albert Einstein Pyramids Language Youtube Nachos Low Rise Jeans Tacos Film
Combustion Tiger Dad Theory of Relativity The Wheel Summer Cheeseburger Moon
Landing Fireworks The Moon Google Maps Civilization Pillow Millennium Falcon
Game Boy Cookie Monster Kiss Walking Electric Guitar MM's Meat Playboy Death
Star Mario Kart 64 Volcano Humans Monty Python DeLorean Love Super Mario
Bros. 3 Spacecraft Vikings Profanity Burrito Breakfast in bed Gummi Bears Lion
Photosynthesis Air Conditioning Friendship South Park Pulp Fiction Cookie Dough
Panda Whiskey Toilet Paper Clouds Swedish Massage Back to the Future Gravity
Winning the Lottery The Center of a Black Hole Red Blood Cells Explosions Reese's
Peanut Butter Cups Optimus Prime Mount Everest Cake Hammerhead Shark
Terminator The Dark Knight Hovercraft Snickers Snack Bikinis Hammock Meteors
Orion's Belt Being a Kid Godzilla The Mystery Machine Robots The Godfather Fiji
Pie Gandalf Niagara Falls Water Balloons Chipwich You When Scotty Beams Things
Up Duct Tape HDTV Saturday Swiss Army Knife Sense Shoes Quesadillas Blanket
Fort Stealth Bomber Industrial Revolution Rock 'n Roll Jim Henson The Beatles
Machete Benjamin Franklin Hug Democracy Victoria Secret Samurai Twix
Electron Morgan Freeman Spiderman Flying First Class Night MythBusters
Guinness Chuck Norris Recliner Dark Matter Connery Free Will Magnets Bill
Murray Snow Day Mythology Quests Slinky Salsa The Muppet Show The Big Bang
Pinball USB Superman Lamborghini Murcielago Kitten iPod Ancient Rome
Source: mostawesomestthingever.com

4. When your computer heals itself The air just before a thunderstorm Trying on your new clothes as soon as you
get home from the store Driving home after a long trip and getting all your radio stations back When you’re not
the new guy anymore When you try cooking something new and everyone likes it The sound of water lapping
against a dock Carrying the ice cube tray you just filled up all the way back to the freezer without spilling
Correctly guessing if the door is push or pull Scratching your back on some random thing Singing the guitar solo
Hanging on When the foul ball is flying towards you Boat waving When you’re merging into traffic and there’s
no traffic to merge into Ripping off a square of plastic wrap that doesn’t get stuck to itself Blaming your fart on
the dog Seeing your reflection in a store front window and liking what you see Baby toes Eating ridiculous things
for breakfast When those fake flowers turn out to be real When the crosswalk changes to walk just as you
approach it Being next Pizza soulmates Food ogling When the subway doors stop right in front of you Seeing a
plane from another plane Your Almost Name Checking somebody out and not getting busted Correctly guessing
an old password you haven’t used in a while The point on a road trip when you’re really far from where you started
and really far from where you’re going Figuring out how we got on this topic Looking up while underwater
Driving over a small hill in your car Pulling a weed and getting all the roots with it When your plugged up nostril
just suddenly opens up with no warning Walking into a crowded party and locking eyes with someone you know
across the room The smell and feel of bedsheets that dried in the sun Staying up so late that everything becomes
funny Horrible fake accents made by close friends Somehow waking up at the right time even though you forgot
to set your alarm clock Picking things up with your feet Getting all sweaty and jumping in When you manage to
get ready super fast when there’s no time to shower Digging a hole in your mashed potatoes and filling it up with
gravy When your friend returns your book and they actually read it That little hole at the top of your sink that
prevents it from overflowing Those rare moments when you’re the only person on the beach Forks The
Childhood Super Jump When you get in the car and notice someone filled up the tank Pain The sound of a cork
popping When characters in movies visit a place you know When a work friend becomes an outside-of-work
friend Using milk instead of water Guilty pleasure songs The moment of anticipation just before the first kiss
Seeing a dog that looks like a dog you know Finally getting the perfect picture The moment at the bar when
everyone starts singing together Finishing your last exam When that social event you didn’t want to go to gets
canceled When someone who doesn’t like pizza crust gives you their pizza crust When your guests do the dishes
even after you told them not to Biting off the last piece of the popsicle without losing any of it Starting the
lawnmower on the first pull Hearing a song that reminds you of someone you love Watching soccer and actually
seeing a goal Taking Friday off Licking all the flavor off your fingers
Source: http://1000awesomethings.com

5. 5 most awesome designed
products/experiences

10. Spectrum of awesomeness
Mind-
Amazing Blowing
Delightful
Excellent
Usable

11. Why do we need emotional
impact?

12. Emotion and memory

13. Emotion and memory
Happy now!
REMEMBER
THIS!

14. Why do we need to design for
emotional impact?

15. What if libraries were considered
“awesome”?

16. What if your designs were
considered “awesome”?

17. When to design “awesome” things
• Users want:
– Something interesting/entertaining
– To learn/grow/win
• Clients want users to:
– Have fun or complete a challenge
– Remember them
– Share with others
– Come back again and again
• Just plain functional won’t be enough to compete

18. When NOT to design “awesome”
• Users want:
– Plain old functionality
– Transparency
• Clients want users to:
– Get work done and get out

19. How to get there from here?
Interviews
Usability
Studies
AWESOME
Surveys Personas
Business
Analytics Requirements

30. 5 stages of a mind-blowing experience
Attention/Seduction
Anticipation/Expectation
Satisfaction/Flow/Addiction
Inversion/Expansion
Termination/Transition

31. 5 stages of a mind-blowing experience
Attention/Seduction
Anticipation/Expectation
Satisfaction/Flow/Addiction
Inversion/Expansion
Termination/Transition
AWESOME

32. ASAESFAIETT

33. 5 stages of a mind-blowing experience
Attention
Waiting
Satisfaction
Upending
Moving on

34. AWSUM

35. http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniemole/5038498615/

36. Bacon
• Attention: “What’s for breakfast?” “Bacon.”
• Waiting: The aroma fills the kitchen. Sizzling
sounds from the oven.
• Satisfaction: “Mmm… bacon.”
• Upending: “What? There’s more? And it’s
dipped in dark chocolate?”
• Moving on: “Aww, bacon all gone.”

37. The Process

38. Focus
• Choose an audience
• Choose a few things to do extremely well
• Choose a desired outcome

39. Understand your users
• Personality
• Likes
• Dislikes
• Common desires
• Mental models
• Expectations
• Priorities

40. Design the payload
• Match the expectations perfectly
• Do it better than the competition
• Meet a primal need (hunger, sex, social, etc.)

41. Design hooks
• How will you get people into the experience?
• How will you build up expectations?
• How will you deliver the payload?
• How will you keep them (and/or their friends)
coming back?

42. Design schema-inverters
• Do something in an unexpected way
• Reveal a completely new perspective
• Mash it up with other things they like

43. Design the denouement
• Stop while you’re ahead
• Create strategic gaps
• Set the groundwork for the next
version/phase

44. DISCUSS
http://www.lmntsofawsmns.com/ Twitter: @ajlouie