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6 Positive Emotions

6 Positive Emotions
In preschools across the globe, scampering boys and girls paste their scribbly creations into “Wow” books. “Do you know why it’s called a ‘wow book’?” my daughter asks me (Dorian) one afternoon, eager to divulge the surprise. “Because it makes you go ‘Wow!’” Her gleeful answer may not have been a total revelation, but it does reveal something more profound than might be expected. This simple handcrafted artifact is designed to support shared moments of positive emotion: joy, pride, connectedness, awe, and love. By offering an opportunity for the experience of positive emotion (both for the children and for those with whom they share it), the wow book not only increases experienced happiness but also contributes, in its own way, to flourishing (and we will find out how in this chapter). Surely it’s not too much to ask for our technologies to do the same.

Positive emotions are among the few factors of wellbeing that designers already consciously attend to. Marketers try to manufacture the “wow” factor for its profit potential, and the designer among us (Dorian) can attest to the fact that we love to evoke feelings such as delight, pleasure, fun, and satisfaction through our work. This shouldn’t be taken for granted in the technology industry, however. Only a decade ago technology design was lorded over by the negative, with lists of usability “violations” and an unrelenting focus on efficient function. In response, many professionals looking for the more holistic perspective offered by design in other fields protested. Naked function wasn’t enough, and ease of use would not be the end of the story.

Thanks to industry pioneers such as Don Norman, Peter Wright, and Marc Hassenzahl, we have taken part in an era of human-centeredness that shifts focus from the technology to the user’s experience of it. Today, when we design digital environments, we seek to create conditions for positive user experiences, knowing that positive emotions will not only be more rewarding for the user, but also be far more effective at meeting business goals, whether that’s by communicating better, increasing sales, supporting learning, increasing loyalty, or meeting any of the other common objectives served by our software and tools.

So what if we could direct this practice and momentum higher, toward positive computing? What if we designed for a wider range of positive emotions not primarily because they support business goals, but as a means of increasing the psychological wellbeing of people? What research could we draw on, and where could we look for examples? To explore these questions, in this chapter we turn to some of the seminal research on positive emotions by leading psychologists such as Barbara Fredrickson, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Don Norman, and Daniel Kahneman. We also spotlight some of the technologies already designed to promote wellbeing by increasing positive emotions, inferring possible design implications and how we might extend current work into the digital future.

6 Positive Emotions
In preschools across the globe, scampering boys and girls paste their scribbly creations into “Wow” books. “Do you know why it’s called a ‘wow book’?” my daughter asks me (Dorian) one afternoon, eager to divulge the surprise. “Because it makes you go ‘Wow!’” Her gleeful answer may not have been a total revelation, but it does reveal something more profound than might be expected. This simple handcrafted artifact is designed to support shared moments of positive emotion: joy, pride, connectedness, awe, and love. By offering an opportunity for the experience of positive emotion (both for the children and for those with whom they share it), the wow book not only increases experienced happiness but also contributes, in its own way, to flourishing (and we will find out how in this chapter). Surely it’s not too much to ask for our technologies to do the same.

Positive emotions are among the few factors of wellbeing that designers already consciously attend to. Marketers try to manufacture the “wow” factor for its profit potential, and the designer among us (Dorian) can attest to the fact that we love to evoke feelings such as delight, pleasure, fun, and satisfaction through our work. This shouldn’t be taken for granted in the technology industry, however. Only a decade ago technology design was lorded over by the negative, with lists of usability “violations” and an unrelenting focus on efficient function. In response, many professionals looking for the more holistic perspective offered by design in other fields protested. Naked function wasn’t enough, and ease of use would not be the end of the story.

Thanks to industry pioneers such as Don Norman, Peter Wright, and Marc Hassenzahl, we have taken part in an era of human-centeredness that shifts focus from the technology to the user’s experience of it. Today, when we design digital environments, we seek to create conditions for positive user experiences, knowing that positive emotions will not only be more rewarding for the user, but also be far more effective at meeting business goals, whether that’s by communicating better, increasing sales, supporting learning, increasing loyalty, or meeting any of the other common objectives served by our software and tools.

So what if we could direct this practice and momentum higher, toward positive computing? What if we designed for a wider range of positive emotions not primarily because they support business goals, but as a means of increasing the psychological wellbeing of people? What research could we draw on, and where could we look for examples? To explore these questions, in this chapter we turn to some of the seminal research on positive emotions by leading psychologists such as Barbara Fredrickson, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Don Norman, and Daniel Kahneman. We also spotlight some of the technologies already designed to promote wellbeing by increasing positive emotions, inferring possible design implications and how we might extend current work into the digital future.

book/positive_computing/6_positive_emotions.txt · Last modified: 2016/07/11 22:47 by hkimscil

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