According to Don Norman, an expert on psychology and interaction, there are three reasons why good design can bring about happiness: visceral, behavioral, and reflective.
Visceral
Focus on the beautiful.
When you see something you react to it’s beauty, or to it’s ugliness. Sometimes you don’t notice it, sometimes you don’t know why you notice it. Beauty is subconscious and often instinctual. We like bright colors because of our hereditary biology, finding fruits and vegetables. We like symmetry and smiles because it distinguished friendly faces from predators.
Behavioral
Focus on the functional.
It just works. Sometimes it works with a bit of elegance, or a clever simplicity. The important element is that it gives a feeling of control through usability and/or understanding. Again, it’s a subconscious experience. You’ll probably only notice it if it doesn’t work properly.
Reflective
Focus on the emotional.
While the previous two were subconscious, this element is all about the superego. The superego doesn’t see the senses, doesn’t control the muscles, it’s that little voice in your head. It’s how the design reflects back on you. It’s the car that makes you feel like your a tough guy or an environmentalist.
How Good Design Makes You Happy
When one, two, or all three of these elements are positively activated dopamine is released. Dopamine produces pleasure and opens your mind to new experiences and thoughts. When the opposite of the elements are present you release neurotransmitters into your prefrontal lobes which make you focus and put you on edge.
Norman’s Speech
The theory is reminiscent of the often discussed marriage of form and function. However in this case it brings the user into the equation through emotional response. Which seems like a crucial element in creating good design, because, well, how can it be good if there is no one to judge it.
How has good design made you happy?
Tags: behavioral · Don Norman · form and function · Good Design Makes You Happy · happiness · reflective · visceral5 Comments
My name is James Kurtz III; I am a graphic designer for hire based in Northeast Ohio. Welcome to my website. I invite you to take a look at some work examples in my 
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Thanks for posting this blog and video. It’s one of those things I wish I could convey to my clients sometimes - the ones who just want to get something done fast and dirty, or consider beauty or good design as a superficial luxury and not important. It’s surprising how many times I have to explain - defend - why some web design feature should be done because it looks nicer and will make web visitors feel better and linger longer. And why some marketing person’s layout thrown together in Publisher should be redone and not just saved as an html file and posted!
Thanks for stopping by John. I completely agree, it’s often quite hard to convince people that design is more than surface. Luckily there are super smart people like Don Norman to articulate why good design matters and why it’s worth the price.
Great vid to watch, thanks for sharing.
I wish clients knew what really goes behind a great design and how much design can contribute to their business.
So as designers, we’d only have to spend time trying to better whatever design solution we have instead of having to take time to ‘preach and educate’ about the value of design.
Mokokoma, I agree and feel that the best solution for this is better art education in the school systems. Art appreciation among the masses (in the States at least) is very low. With a higher degree of appreciation for the arts I believe a respect for design will follow.
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