Emotions are Faster than Facts

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This post is part of a series on Design for Engagement.

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Engagement > Immediacy >

Easy To Relate To

shared emotions (Matsys)

Easy to relate to means your customer feels like the proposition was created for someone like them, with their concerns. It means they empathize with the proposition's tone of voice and personality of the proposition. Align the presentation of your proposition with the emotions of your customer to reduce the effort your customer must make to understand their own feelings about your proposition. This, increases the chance they will consider your proposition further.

Use graphic design and copy to create empathy. For example, Hipmunk, a travel site, labels its flight and hotel search result sorting options using words that describe the way travelers feels:  agony, ecstasy. Dropbox also gets the tone right, with simple, yet playful graphics and copy that strike a balance between leading non-tech users by the hand and keeping tech-savvy users interested.

Hipmunk: not afraid to talk about feelings.

Dropbox: sets the tone with copy and graphics

Bottom line

• Strike the right tone. Use visual design and written copy to reflect a well-defined emotional state, aligning with that of your audience.
• Use personas to help identify and define the right tone.

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Confused? Enlightened? I'd really like to hear how you feel about these post. Leave a comment below. Please engage.

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This post is part of a series on Design for Engagement.

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If your interests extend to theory and philosophy, please check out  my other blog.

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