I. Emotional Theory and "Behavior Guidance"
The theory of direct perception put forward by American perceptual psychologist James Gibson tries to explain the deep interaction between people and things and its principle from the perspective of ecological psychology. In his book "Ecological Approaches to Visual Perception" published by 1979, he put forward the emotional theory for the first time, emphasizing that the instinctive perceptual substances of animals in the ecological environment are based on the information given by the environment. The value and significance contained in the environment provide conditions for animals to act, whether it is beneficial to them or not. Different things and environments provide different information for animals, and animals rely on this information to take corresponding behavior feedback to the surrounding environment. It is worth pondering that Gibson's emotional theory has an important influence on the later product design research. Among them, Japan's achievements in this respect are particularly outstanding, which are manifested in the in-depth study of this theory and the resulting new direction of design style. Scholar Sasaki Tadashi Fang, designer naoto fukasawa and other representatives. Emotional theory has a great influence in the field of product design because it has changed people's inherent understanding of the relationship between people and products. In the past, designers always paid more attention to how to attract users' attention with the dazzling appearance and diverse functions of products, rather than guiding people to behave naturally. Based on the product design concept advocated by enlightenment, it emphasizes stimulating users' independent consciousness, forming a channel for everyone to enter with the simple and simple appearance and reasonable functional positioning of the product, and forming an environmental protection attitude with the appearance of the product.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Explain the conditions required by the principle of kinship first. Use the behavior of "sitting" to analyze. First of all, levelness, flatness, sufficient area and bearing surface materials have become the basic support of the behavior of "sitting". For example, if one of several wooden stakes cut down in the forest has a relatively flat and wide surface, it may be regarded as a seat for temporary rest. No matter what kind of animal it is, the flat stump provides it with the behavioral conditions of "sitting". This is because it basically meets the function of this behavior. On the other hand, can animals judge their feelings by what they see with the naked eye? This will depend on animals' concern for the environment and their ability to comprehensively judge information. In the research of robot cognitive science, it is found that a remarkable ability of human brain different from machines lies in the predictability of dangerous information provided by the environment. Humans have the ability to comprehensively process potential information and respond quickly that machines do not have. The ability of human beings to comprehensively judge the complex relations between things has become the value of enlightening research. For another example, grassland can provide animals with "sitting" affection, while duckweed floating in forest pools often has the appearance characteristics close to grassland, but most animals can tell the difference from real grassland by intuition. There are several other possible factors. One is the faint trace of water in duckweed (figure 1), which will prompt the real material characteristics of this surface of animals. The other is that the relationship between duckweed and natural objects such as trees shows that animals may accumulate water on this surface instead of a unified hard surface (Figure 2). Therefore, if the attention of animals to the environment is reduced to the duckweed part (Figure 3), it may lead to misunderstanding.
Figure 3
The main problems that need to be clarified when using emotional theory to guide design practice are: how to respect and use the advice given by the environment to guide the ideal human behavior model? And how to apply it to design? Several pioneers who applied emotion theory to design, such as American cognitive psychologist Donald A. Norman and scholar Krippendorff, introduced this concept into design, but it was not entirely based on Gibson's theory of direct perception. But it adds the concept of brain cognitive science. In his book The design of daily things, Donald A. Norman particularly emphasized the application of emotion theory in design, but at that time, he didn't mention too much about the specific methods of applying it to product design. Its research field focuses more on human-computer interaction in product virtual interface design. In 2003, Hartson, an American computer science researcher, put forward the concept of physical assistance, which specifically means that it can help users. For example, a key that is large enough and placed in an easy-to-use position is easy for the user to press. Large enough size and easy-to-use location are the physical influences of the key design of the operation interface. "
Many designers misread the enlightenment because they hope to induce users to buy with the help of design efforts. In Gibson's view, the original intention of providing information is not to induce the senses of animals, but to objectively provide conditions for action. Here, "providing action conditions" includes two different ways, one is to pursue the diversity of functions, and the other is to send less information for interpretation. Even if many products contain various functions, they often cannot meet people's diverse needs. The reason is that different biological individuals interpret environmental information in different ways. Take a cup for example, it can hold water or insert a pen. At the same time, some people simply appreciate the patterns on its surface, or some people use it as an ashtray. Its functional characteristics only exist according to specific use occasions. In addition, for example, when we design outdoor games for children, we need to consider the creative characteristics of children, so that the design can be interpreted in many ways.
Second, ordinary products and blanking design
In June 2006, Japanese designer naoto fukasawa and British designer jasper morrison held a design exhibition called "Super Normal" in Tokyo Axis Gallery. "Supernormal" means "normal to the extreme", and the exhibits selected in the exhibition are all daily necessities. Both designers believe that the more people pay attention to products, the better, but ordinary and simple beauty in daily life should be discovered.
The feeling of things comes from people's hearts. The answer can be found in James Gibson's theory of direct perception. Naoto fukasawa found a design philosophy with the consciousness of ordinary beauty from the influence theory, which is as follows:
"What these designs have in common is that they are not prominent in life, have no claims and sense of existence, and contain many affirmations that can cope with various situations. Just like a chair can' sit',' put things',' hang things' and so on, it has many functions ... A good design usually contains features that are particularly prominent in a certain situation in the emotion extracted unconsciously, and is integrated into the unconscious behavior flow, and is rarely associated with subjectivity such as impression. It is unconsciously used to realize its function and appeals to the impression that the consciousness is not strong. "
The meaning he elaborated here contains two meanings. One is the possibility that an article can provide people with more than one behavioral condition; The other layer means that the multiple functions of an object should be well hidden under a simple appearance without attracting strong attention, that is, "hidden design".
The environment contains all kinds of needed information and available "natural design".
From the understanding of the environment, its meaning refers to everything that exists except the self, and it also implies various functions that can be used. Animals draw information from the environment and also seek the means of survival from the environment. Humans are born with the same survival instinct as animals, and also have the ability to turn environmental elements into usable things. Even people without any training know how to use things around them to achieve convenient purposes. For example, the branches picked up by climbers turned into crutches. Humans seem to have this kind of value judgment on things from birth. The functions needed in life cannot be realized by a complete product. Relationships between things can often be used by people.
An interesting example is the default structure that can be used effectively (Figure 4). In order to close the glass door at any time, rubber mats are set at the entrance of the apartment to limit the opening and closing angle. This has caused trouble for users who need to go in and out frequently. The dot texture protruding below the glass door just realizes the function of keeping it open for a short time. People use the height difference between small stones and small dots to form obstacles, which effectively solves this problem. Similarly, after completing the above functions, there will be no redundant products. The dotted texture on the ground, at first glance, exists as a decorative pattern, but it shows useful value when needed. This is the case when the product disappears into the environment.
Figure 4
Another case is about the "headrest" that temporarily rests on the train. Passengers fall asleep in the train seats, not by virtue of the excellent backrest, but by using the included angle formed between the seats. By adjusting the angle of the seat back, the leaning point of the head is formed. When people leave, the seat returns to its original state and its function disappears (as shown in Figure 5).
Figure 5
Another example is Figure 6, which shows a wall with a circular texture effect. Someone hung a long-handled umbrella. This scene is a little dramatic at first glance, but when you think about it carefully, it has a reasonable composition. The ring only provides the basic function of hanging an umbrella. The scene in Figure 7 is also familiar. The crossing of plates will form a natural chopstick rack, and we are always used to temporarily placing chopsticks here. When the food is taken away, the function disappears.
Figure 6
Figure 7
As mentioned above, human beings are born with the ability to interpret environmental information. Gibson's theory is called direct perception theory because it emphasizes the instinctive judgment of human subconscious senses. Even when the linguistic information of human rational judgment appears, this direct perception still shows the priority of information capture. Figure 8 shows the door of a restaurant. The handle of the door does not have the behavior condition of pulling, and the door is heavy, so it is inconvenient to push and pull. When the left and right doors are in a slightly forward and backward state as shown in the figure, it is found that most people subconsciously choose to slightly push the left part and slightly pull the right part to form the most labor-saving gap for the body to pass through. Even if the language guidance message of "pull" has appeared above the handle. When the two doors are flush, it is found through observation that most people still pull the door according to the information prompted by the language, although it obviously takes more effort. From a deeper psychological analysis, people will subconsciously feel that this structural state means that most people enter through pushing, which objectively forms such an appearance. It can be seen that human beings have a strong instinct for direct perception of environmental information.
Figure 8
Thirdly, the application of emotion theory in product design.
The consistency between the information provided by the environment and the behavior goal reflects the inherent requirements of product design. The environmental information put forward by the emotional principle lies in the presentation of implicit purpose, not the user's behavior intervention. Explaining the deep meaning of use based on tiny information expression is another way of thinking in product design.
Figure 9 shows the design of the "tilting cup" made by the author. Usually, the cup needs to be drained after washing, but if the cup is inverted, it is easy to breed bacteria at the mouth of the cup, and placing it forward is not conducive to the outflow of accumulated water. What happens if the mouth is not a support point? With this problem, the author tried to make the upper end of the handle into an inclined plane and stand the whole cup on the table with the handle as the fulcrum. After repeated experiments and production, the design was finally completed. The straight handle guides the user to produce the correct operation method from the appearance, and the morphological characteristics of the whole cup body appear here without too much visual interference.
Figure 9 (German Red Dot Conceptual Design Award in 2065438+02)
The design of figure 10 is the packaging design of an inclined cup made by the author. Because the plastic film is used to wrap the whole package, there will be a convenience problem when opening it. Imagine how you would open a set of plastic film tableware. Many people choose to poke with chopsticks! Although this is a slightly violent way, it also has certain rationality. Based on this principle, the handle-shaped depression on the box is selected as the starting point for manual opening, which is convenient and will not damage the box body. The depression on the handle of the cup was originally used as a means of modeling, but it became an information prompt that implicitly guided the opening of the package.
Figure10 (won German iF packaging design award in 2015)
The figure 1 1 shows the design of automobile dashboard. Usually, the function of dashboard is to display various driving parameters, such as vehicle speed, fuel quantity, driving distance, etc. The biggest feature of this dashboard is that it can remind drivers to control the speed. This dashboard uses GPS positioning technology. When the speed exceeds the current road speed limit, the display color of the dashboard changes from blue to red to remind the driver to pay attention. According to the emotional theory, people will have an instinctive reaction after receiving signals from the environment. The dynamic discoloration of the dashboard repeatedly reminds drivers to be alert to speeding problems. Although people under normal physiological conditions may deliberately avoid such information prompts for a short time, it is difficult to get rid of the instinctive concern for safety, which is an important factor in the formation function of this design.
Figure11(won the highest prize of German red dot concept in 2065438+02)
The design shown in Figure 12 is a transparent tape. Different from ordinary tape, the left and right dark parts of this tape do not contain glue. When we use scotch tape, we are often worried about finding cracks in the tape. Even if it is found, it is difficult to distinguish the operation direction at once or it is easy to damage the tape at the beginning. By observing and touching the edges of tapes with different softness, we can help us find the beginning quickly.
Figure12 (won the German Red Dot Conceptual Design Award in 2013)
The principle of kinship is the law of human behavior under the pure information transmission, relying on human instinct. The function of products lies in being used by people, and its design path lies in people's reverse interpretation of their instinctive reactions. This reaction should be spontaneous and free, not forced induction and interference. The traditional thinking mode of product design depends more on the designer's initial idea of the product than the objective feedback from the user. Users' choice of different information interpretation methods should have the essential characteristics of their extensive needs. It is this that determines the inherent requirements for products to provide a variety of optional shapes. Because the information interaction between people and things doesn't just stay in the traditional understanding of things, it is more likely to be transformed into a relationship, a trace or a way of being recognized. This makes us enter a new era in understanding the relationship between people, things and the environment.