Emotion, Arousal, Attention and Flow: Chaining Emotional States to Improve Human Computer Interaction

Emotion, Arousal, Attention and Flow: Chaining Emotional States to Improve Human-Computer Interaction by Trevor van Gorp Dr. Ron Wardell Faculty of Environmental Design University of Calgary Edie Adams Microsoft Research © Trevor van Gorp, 2006 March 26th, 2006 Trevor van Gorp, BFA (Hon.), M.E.Des (Industrial Design) User Experience Consultant nForm User Experience Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Why is Emotion Important to UX? “ Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.“ Vincent Van Gogh, 1889

Why is Emotion Important to UX?

• Emotion is the “experience” in “User Experience”

• Would you let layout, interaction, or information architecture occur randomly? • Our lives are chains of emotional states

Introduction and Overview

• Unanswered questions:

?

What differentiates one emotion from another?

What emotional states should be our goal?

What specific product properties elicit changes in emotions?

In what sequence should we elicit emotions?

What differentiates one emotion from another?

Differentiating by Dimensions

Differentiating by levels of:

Emotional States (van Gorp 2006 - adapted from Desmet 2002) • Value (Pleasant vs. Unpleasant) • Physiological arousal (Anxiety vs. Boredom)

Differentiating by Expressions

• Internal, private expressions:

changes in breathing patterns

behaviour

• External, public expressions:

feelings

changes in body posture

vocalizations

facial expressions

What emotional states should be our goal?

Emotions and Cognition

• Emotions affect cognition

strength of attention

Positive affect

Negative affect

Arousal

relaxed body

open, creative thinking

tense body

detail-oriented thinking

(Norman 2004)

Emotions and Cognition

• Yerkes-Dodson law

(van Gorp 2006 from Yerkes-Dodson, 1908)

Arousal, Attention, and Flow

• Flow:

task has clear goals and immediate feedback

• Attention - selects relevant information • Focus of attention - is what enters consciousness (Csikszentmahalyi 1990)

focused attention

few interruptions

challenge matches skills

Anxiety, Boredom and Flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1990 - Dots and text added: van Gorp 2006) Level of Physiological Arousal

Emotional States (van Gorp 2006 - adapted from Desmet 2002, Russell 1980) Flow (adapted from Csikszentmahalyi 1990)

What specific product properties elicit changes in emotions?

Products as Personalities

• People attribute personality to products based on their appearance and how they interact (Reeves and Nass 1989)

Interaction as Conversation http://www.amp88.plus.com/file%20open%20error.JPG

Interaction as Conversation Omni Graffle 4

Interaction as Conversation

Personalities and Conversations • What visual characteristics are associated with personality type? Submissive • smaller • lighter in colour • lighter in weight • rounded • feminine Dominant • larger • darker • heavier • angular • masculine www.sitesdesignedbysites.com www1.folha.uol.com.br

In what sequence should we elicit emotions?

State Chaining Emotional States (van Gorp 2006 - adapted from Desmet 2002) Flow (adapted from Csikszentmahalyi 1990)

State Chaining Pacing, Rapport and Leading: Interaction, Personality and Behaviour (van Gorp 2006)

State Chaining

• Connecting related emotional states

State Chaining: From Problem State to Desired State (van Gorp 2006 - adapted from Dilts and De Lozier 2000)

The Affect Circumplex (van Gorp 2006) adapted from (Desmet 2002)

State Chaining Example - New User (van Gorp 2006)

Design Process

Existing Application Interaction

Interface Wireframes

Visual Design

www.nform.ca [email_address]

References

Cacioppo, J. T., Larsen, J. T., Smith, N. K., & Berntson, G. G. (2004). “The affect system: What lurks below the surface of feelings?” In A. S. R. Manstead, N. H. Frijda, & A. H. Fischer (Eds.), Feelings and emotions: The Amsterdam conference (pp. 221-240). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly and Eugene Rochberg-Halton. (1981). The Meaning of Things - Domestic Symbols and the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow - the Psychology of Optimal Experience . New York: Harper Perennial.

Desmet, Pieter, R. (2002). Designing Emotions . Pieter Desmet. Delft.

References

Dilts, Robert and Judith De Lozier. (2000a). “Chaining”. Encyclopedia of NLP. Scotts Valley: NLP University Press. http:// nlpuniversitypress .com/html/CaCom15.html accessed on July 21, 2005.

Fehrman, Kenneth R. and Cherie Fehrman. (2000). Color - The Secret Influence . New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Fogg, B.J. (2003). Persuasive Technology - Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Jordan, Patrick, W. (2000). Designing Pleasurable Products. London: Taylor & Francis.

Kemper, Theodore D. (1978). A Social Interactional Theory of Emotions. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Norman, Donald A. (2004). Emotional Design - Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things . New York: Basic Books.

Plutchik, Robert, and H. R. Conte, eds. (1997). Circumplex Models of Personality and Emotions . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

References

Reeves, Byron and C. Nass. (1998). The Media Equation - How People Treat Computers, Television and New Media Like Real People and Places. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Russell, J.A. (1980). “A circumplex model of affect”. In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1161–1178.

Thoits, Peggy, A. (2004). “Emotion Norms, Emotion Work, and Social Order.” in Antony S.R. Manstead and Nico Frijda, Agnesta Fischer, eds. (2004). Feelings and Emotions - the Amsterdam Symposium. pp.359-378. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

van Gorp, T. (2006). Emotion Arousal Attention and Flow: Chaining Emotional States to Improve Human-Computer Interaction. Master’s Degree Project. Forthcoming - University of Calgary.

Yerkes Robert M., and John D.Dodson (1908) “The Relation of Strength of Stimulus to Rapidity of Habit-Formation” Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology , 18, 459-482)