Emotion in Design Studies: The Relationship between Emotion and the Design Process

Abstract

Manipulating the design process can be a stressful learning experience for novice design students. Some students have difficulty deciding how to resolve their design problems. Although tutors provide students with useful guidelines for managing their design processes, some students still find the complicated design development process confusing and feel lost in their design projects. A number of scholars have developed techniques and strategies for managing the design process based on the working processes in the design industry. However, few studies have explored the effects of “intrinsic factors” on the design process, such novice students’ emotional responses to their design problems. This study explores and illustrates the close relationship between emotion and the design process by using a number of proposed new models and perspectives under the umbrella of “design and emotion”. The results indicate that a greater understanding of design and emotion would inspire novice design students to explore how emotion can affect their decision-making and design processes. This, in turn, would enable students to develop methods to control their emotions to make effective decisions and strengthen their ability to manipulate the design process. The subject of design and emotion thus provides a valuable research opportunity and the results of this study make a meaningful and valuable contribution to the “design and emotion” literature. Furthermore, as this study examines emotion in design studies from an undergraduate perspective, it will assist design educators in developing methods to help novice design students improve their design education.

Aims

The main aims of this study can be stated as follows:

• To understand the role of emotions in the design process;
• To investigate how emotions affect decision-making;
• To explore novice design students’ general understanding of the concepts of “design and emotion.”
• This study considers that emotion may be able to optimise decision-making in the design process and improve design outcomes. The research aims were inspired by the fact that novice design students still have difficulty handling the design process, even though their tutors employ various approaches that focus on design skills and techniques, such as time management and problem-solving.

Objectives

To investigate novice design students’ understanding of “design and emotion” and how this

• understanding affects their decision-making in the design process.
• To highlight the importance of emotion in decision-making and the design process.
• To understand how emotion affects the overall design process, including novice design students’ various decisions.
• To analyse possible applications of the findings regarding “design and emotion” in a new curriculum for design education.

Deliverables

Emotion in the Design Process: Intrinsic Factors on Emotion Management for Decision-Making
HO, A. G. (2023). Taylor & Francis. USA: CRC Press.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003388920

New Way to Optimise the Design Process from Emotional Perspectives.
HO, A. G. (2015). Procedia Manufacturing 3 (2015), 2325-2332. [Scopus] 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.379

Exploring the Role of Emotion in the Design Cycle.
HO, A. G. (2014). Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics and the Affiliated Conferences 2014. (pp. 245 – 355). Kraków. Poland: AHFE Conferences. 

The New Relationship between Emotion and the Design Process for Designers.
HO, A. G.(2014). Archives of Design Research, 27 (2). 45-55. [Scopus] [KCI 한국학술지인용색인] https://doi.org/10.15187/adr.2014.05.110.2.45

Emotion Design, Emotional Design, Emotionalised Design: A Review on Their Relationships from a New Perspective.
HO, A. G. & SIU, K. W. M. (2012). The Design Journal, 15 (1). 9-32. [A&HCI] [EBSCO] [Scopus] https://doi.org/10.2752/175630612X13192035508462

Explore the role of emotion in design: Empirical study to understand the perception on emotion design, emotional design, emotionalised design from the designers’ perspectives.
HO, A. G. & SIU, K. W. M. (2011). Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, 5(3). 367-378. [EBSCO][Scopus] 
https://doi.org/10.18848/1833-1874/CGP/v05i03/38060 

Role of designers in the new perspective of design and emotion.
HO, A. G. & SIU, K. W. M. (2010). Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, 4 (3). 15-24. [EBSCO][Scopus]
https://doi.org/10.18848/1833-1874/CGP/v04i03/37884

Exploring the relationships between emotion and design process for designers today.
HO, A. G. (2010). Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Design Creativity ICDC 2010. Kobe. Japan: The Design Society. 

Emotionalise design, emotional Design, emotion design: A new perspective to understand their relationships.
HO, A. G. & SIU, K. W. M. (2009). Proceedings of International Association of Societies of Design Research. Seoul. Korea: Korean Society of Design Science.
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