Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 2.1:
The
Wheel of Joy in Life
describes how a product creates joy by enhancing users' lives.
The Cool Concepts we identified from this project are central to understanding what is
needed to design for life, and central to designing a product users will experience as cool.
The four Cool Concepts of the Wheel of Joy show how products enhance the
joy of life
,
how they make our lives richer and more fulfilling:
Accomplishment:
Empower users to achieve all the intents of their life, work and per-
sonal, wherever they are in whatever amount of time they have, across place, time, and
platform. Support the
unstoppable momentum of life
by helping users fill every moment of
dead time with useful or amusing activities. Design with the expectation that users will be
distracted, splitting their attention across multiple activities. Accomplishment in life is the
main driver of the cool experience in the Wheel of Joy in Life.
Connection:
Increase the intimacy and collaboration of users' real relationships. Help
them make frequent contact, have something mutually valued to talk about and share, and
findthingstodotogetheraseveryonepursuestheirseparatelives.Fosterrealconnectionin
business relationships as well as personal relationships. Communities of interest—online
or in person—will produce real relationships and a sense of connection if they support fre-
quent contact, provide conversational content, and promote shared activities.
Identity:
Support users' sense of core self and enable them to express that sense of self
in what they do and how they show up to others. Identify the core identity elements asso-
ciated with the activity being supported by a product and deliver value that increases the
users'senseofbeingtheirbestselves.Ifpeoplearetakingonanewidentity,helpthemcre-
atethatidentitythroughexamplesofwhatotherslikethemdoandbycheckingwithfriends
or trusted colleagues to determine if their behaviors, choices, and values are appropriate.
Features that support success in activities core to the person's identity increase the overall
value of the product.
Sensation:
Provide the user with pleasurable moments of sensual delight through
color, sound, movement, and animation. Modern aesthetic design is expected by users
today—add appropriate stimulation, graphics, and animation to enhance interaction and
create products that evoke a smile. But don't add gratuitous or distracting graphics or
animation—that just annoys users and reduces cool. Sensation augments the value of
any product, but is the core product focus for games, entertainment systems, music, and
sensory-centered product genres.
