We are all slaves to our emotions, yet most see their customers from a purely rational perspective. In this chapter we will explore how evaluating the emotional aspect of an experience can bring often unconsidered issues to the surface and open up new ways to delight the customer.
Let’s not forget, that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realising it. VINCENT VAN GOGH
Introduction
When I was a kid, Sony was the definition of cool. The yellow sports Walkman was an 80s icon, and as time and technology marched on I marvelled at their new feather-touch machines, barely larger than the cassettes they played. When CDs became the dominant format it was a Sony Discman for me; I even had a MiniDisc player. To hold a Sony product in my hand felt as though I was holding a piece of the future, and I developed a fondness for Sony that few brands have matched since. Unfortunately, when I pick up a Sony product now, I feel like I am holding a piece of the past. I own a relatively new Sony TV and while the picture quality is fine the rest seems only average to me. Sony, which once stood out from the crowd because of their quality, design language and innovation, are now almost indistinguishable from most rivals.
I am saddened by the state of this once great company. According to the BBC, it has been seven years since their television unit has turned a profit.1 In April 2012 they announced their biggest loss in history (around £3.5 billion).2 There will be around 10,000 job losses.3 What went wrong? To answer the question fully would take a book in itself, but I think it can be summed up in a single sentence: they lost their emotional appeal. Their televisions still work, their cameras take good photos, and their laptops are alright too, but that’s the problem: nobody falls in love with something that’s only average. We want something that plucks our heart-strings. The way a product, brand or service makes us feel is critical to its success.
These feelings play a central role at all stages of the customer life cycle. In the beginning we want a customer to choose our offering over a competitor; so it is critical that the first impression creates the right feeling. We also want the product or service to create positive feelings when in use: it is not enough to have a dazzling marketing campaign that gives us the warm fuzzies, the product must perform brilliantly too. Finally we want people to develop an ‘emotional attachment’ to the brand so that they continue to buy from us in the future and share their positive experiences with others.
To make this happen we must consider the specific emotions that we want to evoke during each stage of the customer experience. We must also accept from the outset that emotional appeal is not a substitute for functional brilliance: it’s not the head or the heart, it’s both. Many businesses fail because they create a beautifully evocative advert but a product that doesn’t deliver the goods. This has the opposite effect of creating one of the most powerful negative emotions: disappointment.
There are three reasons why considering the emotional reaction of the customer is important:
- Emotions can have specific ‘action tendencies’, so to encourage (or discourage) a specific behaviour we may need to evoke (or avoid) specific emotions.
- Having a target emotional state for each stage of the customer experience provides a goal to work towards that brings empathy and focus to the design process.
- Since emotions are often readily observable we can incorporate them into testing to validate our work, or identify opportunities for improvement.
Emotion action tendencies
Different emotions can result in different action tendencies,4 so by actively avoiding or promoting specific feeling states we can encourage certain behaviours. When we experience anger – the feeling that typically occurs when our progress towards an objective is hampered – our tendency is to put more effort towards achieving the goal. Rather than giving up, getting angry makes us try harder.5 This has interesting implications for the customer experience: annoyance and disappointment may cause us to complain, but it’s anger that pushes us towards legal action or negative comments on social media.
Anxiety is another emotion with a strong action tendency: it makes us stop what we are doing, and become more wary of our surroundings.6 This too can have a big impact on the customer experience, especially when buying online. If there is uncertainty about security during a check-out process, or we are not quite sure the product is the right one, we can abandon the sale at the last minute. This is why online retailers do their best to eliminate sources of stress during the check-out process: all possible distractions are removed, clear feedback is given during each step of the process, and retailers do their best to produce an interface that looks reassuringly professional and trustworthy.
Photojojo – interest = exploration
The product detail page of online photography accessories store Photojojo has an unusual feature. Next to the large image of the product is a picture of a lever, with the text ‘DO NOT PULL’ underneath. Obviously the first thing you do when you see that is press it, at which point an animated hand comes down from the top of the screen, grabs the page and pulls it up, showing the details of the product that were hidden below the page fold. This is a great example of how evoking a specific emotion (interest) encourages certain behaviours (exploration). This also injects some fun into the shopping experience.
Don’t leave these action tendencies to chance. Ask yourself ‘What actions do we want the user to take? What emotions would discourage or encourage these actions? How can these be promoted or avoided?’
Define emotional success criteria
In this book so far I’ve written exclusively about how to break the customer experience down into its most simple elements. One criticism of a reductionist approach like this is that often the whole does not equal the sum of the parts. We might fuss over every detail but end up with a collection of details rather than an organic, cohesive whole. We might not be able to put our finger on exactly what is missing, but sometimes a product just doesn’t feel right.
McLaren – too ‘clinical’
As their website proudly states, ‘McLaren Automotive has a singular vision: to produce the greatest supercars in the world. A team of passionate and obsessive enthusiasts, from our global network of retailers to our engineers in the new McLaren Production Centre, we are dedicated to delivering the very best customer experience.’7
Expectations were high when journalists finally got their hands on the long awaited MP4-12C: it promised breathtaking speed, superlative ride quality and handling in an everyday usable package. Despite ticking all of these boxes, the McLaren was almost universally criticised. According to Autocar magazine, it lacked the ‘sense of occasion’8 to match its pace; it ‘failed to set pulses racing with its styling’,9 it was ‘a touch clinical’10 and lacked ‘aural drama’. In summary, Evo magazine said it ‘lacks emotional pull’.11 In response to this criticism McLaren made a raft of changes before launch, designed to increase the ‘emotional appeal’12 of the car – a fruitier exhaust note among them.
To me, this illustrates the value of considering the emotional appeal of a product from the outset, especially when the purchase is fundamentally an emotional one: to spend £168,500 on a car is a decision that comes from the heart not the head. By the time the car is in production there is comparatively little that can be done: it can’t be radically re-styled to create more visual drama. It also shows the clear value of testing the emotional response of customers before a product is launched to make sure that it hits the right notes.
We need to keep a clear picture in mind of how we want the customer to feel at a given stage of the experience, and use this as a reference point throughout the design process: we need to identify emotional success criteria to match the functional ones. Thinking this through will put you ahead of the competition. It is not always easy, but try to identify specific emotions if you can, for example we might want to incorporate an element of positive surprise when the customer un-boxes their product for the first time. In scenarios where a customer must absorb a lot of information it may be best that they are relaxed so that they can think clearly. For each stage of the customer journey, ask yourself ‘How should the customer be feeling at this point?’
To help frame the experience in this way, overleaf is a table of common positive or negative emotions that may apply to the experience.
Intensity
Emotions exist in part to attract our attention to a certain stimulus in our environment,13 so the more intensely we feel an emotion, the less able we are to concentrate on other things.
A table of common emotions that may apply to your customer experience
| NEGATIVE EMOTIONS | POSITIVE EMOTIONS |
|---|---|
| Anger | Acceptance |
| Annoyance | Admiration |
| Anxiety | Amazement |
| Apprehension | Anticipation |
| Boredom | Calmness |
| Disappointment | Delight |
| Disgust | Excitement |
| Distraction | Interest |
| Doubt | Joy |
| Embarrassment | Pride |
| Frustration | Relaxation |
| Neglect | Satisfaction |
| Regret | Surprise (positive) |
| Surprise (negative) | Trust |
This dimension of emotion, known as arousal, is a critical factor to consider when designing a customer experience. It might be that the optimum experience at a particular stage is the absence of any noticeable emotion at all so that we can concentrate on a task like filling in a complex form, or setting up a product for the first time. When considering the emotional aspect of a stage of the customer journey, ask yourself ‘Is the level of intensity appropriate for the tasks the customer must complete?’
I have been a keen musician since childhood, and one thing my teachers have always emphasised is the importance of dynamics to a performance. Varying the volume and feel of the notes breathes life into the music. We can think about the customer experience in this way, looking to vary the nature and intensity of emotion at particular points to create ‘wow moments’ in the customer journey. Ask yourself ‘How can we vary the emotions and their intensity to produce a more compelling experience?’
Inception – an emotional cornucopia
I can think of few films in recent years that have generated the level of anticipation and discussion as Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece Inception. The trailer performs its role perfectly, pulling the viewer in with stunning visuals and haunting music, but only hinting at the intricacies of the plot; it never gives the game away, generating interest through a series of intense but mysterious spectacles that seem almost totally divorced from one another. During the film itself the intricacies of the plot hold the audience in suspense, culminating in an ending left open to personal interpretation. Writing for the New York Daily News, critic Joe Neumaier said, ‘Inception is going to turn out to be like a cinematic Rubik’s cube – audiences won’t be able to put it down … The water cooler factor with ‘Inception’ is that people want to suss it out with their co-workers who saw it, and that makes the uninitiated curious about what all the fuss is. And that will help drive box office sales.’14 He wasn’t wrong: Inception was box office gold, grossing over $825 million worldwide at the cinema.15
Eliminate negative emotions
The challenge for the emotional experience is not just to evoke the positive emotions, it is to avoid the negative ones. Anger, boredom or disappointment are but a few of the feelings that can ruin a customer experience. When I see brands appear on social media it is almost always a knee-jerk reaction to a negative emotion. When evaluating the emotional aspect of a stage of the customer’s journey, ask yourself ‘What would cause negative feelings? How can we prevent these from occurring?’
It may also be the case that the customer arrives at an interaction in a heightened emotional state. Let’s imagine they’ve lost their wallet and they need to contact their bank to cancel their credit card. At this point the customer is likely to be upset, angry, anxious and distracted. Success in this interaction requires not just allowing them to complete the task at hand – cancelling their cards – but also reducing the intensity of the feelings and pushing them towards more positive emotional states, such as acceptance and trust.
Since the stakes are high in this interaction, any emotional response is likely to be exaggerated: keeping the customer on hold, giving them bad news – ‘your new card should be with you in 14 working days’ – is likely to push them into a more intense emotion, from annoyance to anger, or from anger to rage. Yet this also affords a fantastic opportunity to generate greater positive emotions: trust might become admiration, surprise might become amazement. I for one would be pretty amazed if they answered the phone straight away and got a new card to me the next day at any location, even if I called in the evening. Framing an experience from an emotional perspective not only generates more empathy for the customer, it also helps identify new opportunities.
Philips Rationalizer Concept – an emotional mirror for traders
Teaming up with ABN-Amro, Philips have designed a concept piece called ‘The Rationalizer’, an emotion sensing system targeted at serious investors who trade online from home. The Rationalizer consists of two parts – a bracelet that measures the user’s arousal level and the EmoBowl, a kind of ornament which acts as an ‘emotion mirror’, showing dynamic patterns of light, shifting from a pale yellow to a deep red, depending on the emotion. Why? According to Philips, ‘Research shows that home investors do not act purely rationally: their behaviour is influenced by emotions, most notably fear and greed, which can compromise their ability to take an objective, factual stance. This insight led to the Rationalizer concept in which online traders are alerted when it may be wise to take a time-out, wind down and re-consider their actions.’16
Tracing emotions to principles
Most of the emotions that we experience during a customer journey can be directly traced back to the principles we have covered in this book: the better executed they are, the greater the emotional response. Trust,surprise,disappointment, regret and acceptance, for example, are all dependent on our expectations. Frustration, anger, interest and satisfaction are all a function of our objectives. The table below shows the most common emotions that occur during a customer experience and how they relate directly back to other topics we have already considered.
When we see a brand or product that produces a strong positive emotional reaction, it is usually because the principles we have explored have combined to reinforce each other. To produce a compelling emotional reaction, the different principles must work together. Conversely, when there is a marked absence of emotional appeal, it may be because a specific principle has not been considered, or because the principles are undermining each other: mixed feelings do not compel action. This can be as simple as resisting that doughnut when we’re trying to lose weight, or forgoing certain brands for ethical reasons even if we like the products. For a given stage of the customer journey, if you identify that a specific emotion must either be heavily promoted or avoided, you must make sure that everything in your toolkit is working together to make it happen.
Bang & Olufsen BeoSound 3000 – Surprise!
I remember the surprise I felt when I first encountered one of these CD players. The CD plays behind a pair of glass doors which slide apart as if by magic when you extend your hand towards the player. I’ve one of these players at home and it always fascinates my friends and their children. Their faces seem to light up when the doors magically open. The feeling of positive surprise is generated by the interplay of several principles. Any surprise is by definition unexpected, so obviously expectations play a part, but that is not enough for it to be positive feeling. The positive feeling comes from the sensory delight of watching the doors glide very precisely and from the feeling of controlling the technology with such a simple gesture. I also think it softens the personality of the device: to see something so sleek, cold and angular come to life in such a playful way adds to the surprise. One thing isn’t a surprise though: this particular model is considered an industrial design icon and remained in production in various guises from 1994 to 2006 despite the amazing changes in technology we saw during that time.
Test emotional responses
We can do our best to design an interaction to provoke specific emotions, but to make sure we’ve nailed it we need to test the experience with customers to see if it elicits the appropriate emotional response. Fortunately, emotions can often be easily observed through our facial expressions and changes in tone of voice. During testing, look out for any observable emotional reaction and identify what stimulated the response. This kind of testing is invaluable, especially in eliminating negative responses from the customer that they may not articulate in verbal feedback.
Silverback – usability testing software
This great product has been invaluable to me in testing websites and software. It not only captures what users do on the screen – where they move the cursor and what they type – but also uses the webcam built into the laptop to capture the facial expressions of the user during a task. Often the video of the customer’s face is more revealing than the actual interaction they have with the computer, showing their frustration, confusion, joy and interest. On one project, it was only when showing the CEO of the company a user’s emotional reaction to his product that he acknowledged the problems with it!
Ferrari – 80 per cent of testing is to ‘give the car a soul’
No discussion of emotional brands and products would be complete without a mention of Ferrari, possibly the most evocative brand of them all. Some see owning a Ferrari as the definitive symbol of success, to others it is the ultimate expression of Italian flair. For yet more the driving experience and racing heritage is what is at the root of the appeal. One thing is for sure, for many people Ferrari resolutely ticks all the boxes and reaps the benefits: the prancing horse inspires ferocious loyalty among car collectors and F1 fans alike. In May 2012 a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sold for £22.7 million.17 Ferrari themselves are acutely aware that their success depends on emotional appeal. Comments from Ferrari test driver Raffaele De Simone are revealing: ‘My job is to test the car and give a subjective evaluation … this is a point that makes Ferrari special: don’t trust only the numbers, because we sell emotion, not numbers … just about 20 per cent of our testing is spent on performance … we need to build cars that deliver emotion … We work on feelings, on the senses – all five, the smell of the leather, the noise from the exhaust, the acceleration during gear shifting … These are what I am 80 per cent focused on in the testing, to give soul to a car. That is not easy. It’s much more difficult than going fast.’18
Do not be afraid of provoking a strong reaction
There are very few products that have a universal appeal. Even the most successful products have their detractors; in fact, often the more successful a brand is the less appeal it has for some. Their need to express their individuality means they can’t abide anything with a mass appeal. There is a strong likelihood that as you increase the emotional appeal of your brand or product, you will also agitate the detractors. Don’t worry about it. Remember that you are making stuff for the people who like your brand. Focus on satisfying them, and they will do the hard work of winning other people over through their passion. Be confident. You can’t please everyone all of the time.
Crocs – love ’em or hate ’em
Few brands divide opinion like Crocs, the plastic shoe brand. People genuinely seem to love or hate them. Those who loathe them do so for two reasons: they say that Crocs look ugly and they don’t identify with the people who wear them. If you are young and fashionable, sporting the same unflattering footwear as your mum wears while gardening is definitely not cool. Here the emotional response is caused by two reinforcing principles at work: the customer’s identity is a mis-match for the product, and the visual design promotes negative feelings.
There are plenty of people who really love them though. They say they are comfortable to wear, they like the bright colours, and they rave about the practical benefits of the utilitarian design. For the Croc-lover the emotional reaction is promoted by sensory pleasure combined with the shoe satisfying their practical requirements – it satisfies their objectives. There is some bad news for Croc-haters the world over: in 2011 sales topped $1 billion, and over 100 million pairs of Crocs have been sold across 90 countries.19
Emotional attachment
Several years ago I took a three-month trip to Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. I wanted a break from things, but also really wanted to develop my photography skills. I thought that being present amid some of the most beautiful scenery in the world with no agenda but taking photos would be an amazing, immersive experience, which it was.
I really wanted to develop my technique, so before the trip I sold my digital camera and lenses and bought an old Hasselblad V-series film camera, thinking it would force me to improve. The craft element of photography has always had a major appeal: I get a lot more satisfaction from getting the films back and seeing the images correctly exposed than I do from shooting loads of frames, looking at them on the screen on the back of the camera and then keeping the best one.
I found the camera an absolute joy to operate: the shutter has a unique and reassuring clunk to it, the bright viewfinder allows you to take in all of the scene, and when you pick one up you can feel its quality. Unlike modern cameras which all but take the picture for you, the Hasselblad puts the photographer in charge: all you get is shutter speed and aperture controls, and a button to take the picture. It doesn’t even have a light meter to help you set the exposure. This made the whole process of taking an image much more engaging and rewarding.
During my trip, the camera worked faultlessly however much it got knocked around, and as anyone who uses one of these cameras will confirm, the quality of the pictures they take is stunning. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, over the course of the trip, the camera became a part of me. I became a huge fan of Hasselblad and everything they stood for. I am not alone: the V-series Hasselblad has a cult-like following, and has been in continuous production since 1948. Its popularity as a medium-format camera is almost unrivalled. Of the things I own, this camera is the one I have the most emotional attachment to. It was only during the course of my research that I realised my experience with the Hasselblad combined all the principles in this book in perfect harmony.
To feel an emotional attachment to a brand, product or service is the ultimate validation of a fantastic customer experience and the ultimate expression of the experience design principles that I believe in. To achieve this we must combine all the principles we have covered: the brand must reflect the customer’s value and identity; the product must meet our expectations and fulfil our objectives; and every interaction with the business must be as pleasurable as possible.
Summary
- The way a product, brand or service makes us feel is critical to its success.
- Emotions can have specific ‘action tendencies’, so to encourage (or discourage) a specific behaviour we may need to evoke (or avoid) specific emotions.
- Having a target emotional state for each stage of the customer experience provides a goal to work towards that brings empathy and focus to the design process.
- Since emotions are often readily observable we can incorporate them into testing to validate our work, or identify opportunities for improvement.
- We not only need to promote positive emotions, but actively avoid negative ones too.
- When considering the emotional aspect of the experience we must consider how the intensity of feelings affects concentration.
- Most emotions we experience as customers can be traced back to the other principles in the book: trust,surprise, disappointment, regret and acceptance are all dependent on our expectations.
- To create strong emotional responses we must combine these principles effectively.
- Emotional attachment comes from successfully using all of the principles in this book.