Abstract
Consumers are attracted by product designs that feel “alive” and that contain surprise elements. Meaningful product attributes are an important way to differentiate a product from the competitor’s products. Companies in mature markets, especially, have a competitive advantage when they succeed in integrating this “emotional value” or “experience” into the product design. This paper presents a classification of the various messages that a product can convey. The different product messages are visualised by means of a schema in which three groups of messages are distinguished. These three groups consist of messages about the product itself, about the company and about the product user. The product messages are described in detail and illustrated with recent examples of meaningful product designs. The classification of the different product messages is a synthesis based on findings from literature. In a next research stage this classification and the development process of products with “emotional value” will be analysed in further detail.
Citation
Gotzsch, J. (2002) Product charisma, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/32
Product charisma
Consumers are attracted by product designs that feel “alive” and that contain surprise elements. Meaningful product attributes are an important way to differentiate a product from the competitor’s products. Companies in mature markets, especially, have a competitive advantage when they succeed in integrating this “emotional value” or “experience” into the product design. This paper presents a classification of the various messages that a product can convey. The different product messages are visualised by means of a schema in which three groups of messages are distinguished. These three groups consist of messages about the product itself, about the company and about the product user. The product messages are described in detail and illustrated with recent examples of meaningful product designs. The classification of the different product messages is a synthesis based on findings from literature. In a next research stage this classification and the development process of products with “emotional value” will be analysed in further detail.