Good Products, Bad Products by Adams James

Author:Adams, James...
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-05-02T19:24:28.602000+00:00

The Complexity of Human Emotions

Even academic psychologists have had trouble dealing with emotion as a topic. They like to research phenomena that can be replicated and quantified, and have traditionally lumped emotions together in the “affective domain,” while searching for their research support elsewhere. Most therapists attempt to approach their work rationally and would like their patients to be more “reasonable.” Emotions, however, often defy “reasonableness.”

There is not even a commonly accepted simple list of emotions. Some years ago Daniel Goleman, who was once editor of Psychology Today magazine and later the cognitive science editor of The New York Times, wrote a bestselling book entitled Emotional Intelligence. In the appendix, he lists the following labels for emotions:

• Anger: fury, outrage, resentment, wrath, exasperation, indignation, vexation, acrimony, animosity, annoyance, irritability, hostility, pathological hatred, violence

• Sadness: grief, sorrow, cheerlessness, gloom, melancholy, self-pity, loneliness, dejection, despair, severe depression

• Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, concern, consternation, misgiving, wariness, qualm, edginess, dread, fright, terror, phobia, panic

• Enjoyment: happiness, joy, relief, contentment, bliss, delight, amusement, pride, sensual pleasure, thrill, rapture, gratification, satisfaction, euphoria, whimsy, ecstasy, mania

• Love: acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, affinity, devotion, adoration, infatuation

• Surprise: shock, astonishment, amazement, wonder

• Disgust: contempt, disdain, scorn, abhorrence, aversion, distaste, revulsion

• Shame: guilt, embarrassment, chagrin, remorse, humiliation, regret, mortification, contrition3

Another influential classification was done by Robert Plutchik in 1980 in which he named eight primary emotions: anger, fear, sadness, joy, disgust, trust, surprise, and anticipation.4 He considered these emotions essential for survival and believed that they combine in various ways and intensities to provide secondary emotions. For instance, love would be a combination of joy and trust. Fury, rage, hostility, and annoyance would be different shades of anger.

There are many more such classifications, but although they are useful in attempting to achieve a standardized vocabulary and perhaps a model, they fall short of helping us in our quest for product quality. One can also quibble with these classifications. In my opinion Goleman’s and Plutchik’s categories sorely lack emotions that cause the feelings of desire (wanting, craving, coveting, wishing) and of frustration (thwarting). Such lists do demonstrate that people require a great many words to describe a type of emotion, and even with these words they cannot convey the feelings themselves.

When it comes to products, such lists can mislead through their attempt at simplification. As an example, it might be assumed that enjoyment, love, and perhaps surprise are “positive” emotions that increase quality of life, while fear and anger are negative. I am a firm advocate toward designing projects that stimulate “good” emotions, but is it bad to be angry at products that fail us? If I weren’t a bit afraid when I work on the top of tall ladders, I would quit climbing them. Also, there are many situations where people seem to seek these “negative” emotions and the products that stimulate them. Many people love roller coasters, motorcycles, skis, scary movies, and other products that somehow are successful because they induce fear. Do we need periodic adrenaline rushes? Do

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