Design: Expressing experiences in design

Abstract

Good design has always been concerned with the whole experience of interaction. Although most people think that design is about what we seethe form, shape, proportion, color, and finishthe aesthetic value comes from the whole experience, including gesture and ritual, what we feel and hear, perhaps even what we taste and smell. When we are faced with the complex problems of designing modern products, services, and spaces, it is tempting to go back to the basic values of our aesthetic contribution, but if we just revert to beauty for its own sake, it seems a retrograde step. Working with complex products, systems of products, services, and interactive spaces has taught us how to design machine behavior and to understand more about cognitive psychology, anthropology, and sustainability. It has made us more skillful at designing experiences, gestures, and rituals. It has helped us to create appropriate expressions.