Continuing from my last post hopefully I’ve made a clear point of how important it is to understand the reader when creating any form of graphic communication. A reader’s behaviour provides a strategy for creating successful design work. Design must evoke a response in order to communicate a clear and powerful message that resonates with the reader. This theory re-enforces that design doesn’t need to be beautiful, beauty is only one emotional response and may not be appropriate for the message. Visual communication is about designing for affect — which could stem from an emotional or psychological response.

Norman identified three levels of cognitive processing in his book Emotional Design in 2004 which can be applied to multiple forms of design work and help us understand the process of interacting with something new: visceral, behavioural and reflective. These levels are based on primitive instincts related to survival. I will look at how these levels apply to interface/digital design as that’s the area of design that I specialise and am most interested in!

The visceral level of processing is the first, where a judgement is made on the initial sight or smell of something. A conclusion is made on whether it is good, bad, dangerous, edible etc. Interestingly, making an interface beautiful means that the reader perceives it as being easy to use and is more likely to spend time learning how to use it. The interface can therefore be more complicated or even more difficult to use. Creating a beautiful interface for the reader still require an intimate knowledge of what they may find beautiful though.

The next level is behavioural, this is actually how it works, or behaves, and probably the most important part to any interface as failure to connect with the reader here will general mean the design has failed. This could include things like roll over animations to give the reader feedback on their interaction, to the way the menus may animate or the use of sounds. The interface should compliment the readers behaviours and feel implicit.

Reflection is the final level of cognitive processing, which is where the reader considers their experience with the interface via memory. Do they remember the experience as being pleasant? It is also how they might express themselves, though this has more to do with other forms of design. Using a certain product or wearing a certain item of clothing communicates something about choice and personality.

Applying these theories to an object may help explain the levels and how they work. The Apple iPod is a successful piece of product and interface design (proven by sales). The iPod is beautiful to look at, it’s simple, clean lines and smooth corners make it approachable and friendly. It’s also sleek and almost futuristic. It connects with people on a visceral level. The interface is fun to use. The iPod touch menus interact with your fingers and replicate real world physics with acceleration and objects that bounce, meeting the behavioural level needs and creating a pleasurable memory in the reflective level (this is helped by being able to play your favourite music). The iPod is also advertised as being for young technology-loving people who like having fun and listening to music. Owning an iPod is associated with being one of these people, so it also meets the reflective level using this device.