How to Make Meaningful Design Decisions That Ignite Growth

MEANINGFUL
AESTHETICS
A Guide to
Getting Comfortable with
Uncomfortable Design Decisions
Chris Collins | Director of Design, Kaleidoscope

Introduction
Chapter 1:
It’s Not Just Styling: In Defense of Aesthetics
What Is Aesthetics?
Why Aesthetics Matters
Chapter 2:
Understanding the Design & Innovation Process
Embrace the Design Process
Create the User Lens
Generate Mood andTone Pieces
DevelopTheme Boards
Chapter 3:
How to Make Meaningful Aesthetic Design Decisions
Six ProvenTips from a Design Insider
Conclusion
References / Further Reading
About Kaleidoscope
Table of Contents
© 2015 Kaleidoscope Image Credit: BALL CLOCK, George Nelson

Based on philosophical roots in ancient Greece, aesthetics is the science of how things are known by the
senses and it plays a vital role in how people connect with products. In the fields of design and new product
development, aesthetics can make or break product success.
Yet despite its crucial importance, not enough time and energy is spent on aesthetic design decisions.
In some cases, aesthetics may even be referred to as “eye candy” in various industries to connote the
inconsequential nature of visual design, even though studies have shown a direct correlation between
how we feel about objects and how well they work.
So, why the disconnect? Mostly, it seems to be because the thinking behind aesthetic design is not
always obvious and the resulting decisions aren’t easy.The thought and reasoning behind emotional
design triggers can get lost.
In contrast, decisions around human factors, cost targets and brand guidelines are comparatively black
and white.Weighing aesthetics, or how things appeals to the senses, what we see, hear, taste and feel,
leaves a lot more gray areas.
So, as a person responsible for new product
development, how do you guide the design direction
and make—or help your team make—good decisions
around how people “feel about” or “react to” your
product or experience?
In this guide, we’ll provide insider
insights and simple steps to
help you make rational design
decisions that will lead to real
connections with your users
and growth for your company.
Meaningful Aesthetics: A Guide to Getting Comfortable with Uncomfortable Design Decisions
Introduction
© 2015 Kaleidoscope

Chapter 1
It’s Not Just
Styling: In
Defense of
Aesthetics

Aesthetics is our “affective domain response to
an object or phenomenon.” Affective domain is our
attitude, appreciation and emotion towards learning
or engaging something.This can be contrasted with
cognitive domain, which deals with the processes
and measurable results of study—the practical
ability to apply a method to intelligence.
This definition of aesthetics highlights the funda-
mental problem at hand for many decision-makers
when it comes to aesthetics.The more we try to
measure an element that is meant to tickle our
emotional side, the more we risk diluting its irrational
draw and excitement.This contradiction many
times kills the spirit that aesthetics is to carry.
This does not mean we cannot be rational in
our thought process in creating aesthetics and
in deciding the most meaningful path forward.
We both can and should be rational about the
process. As the advocate of the end user, it is our
responsibility as designers and creators to ensure
we stand up for them and speak on their behalf.
What Is Aesthetics?
How we define aesthetics, in terms of product
design and development:
• Aesthetics tells the story of the product.
Aesthetics communicates who the product was
built for and how it is intended to be used. It car-
ries the brand promise. Aesthetics shapes what
we understand and feel about the product or
experience and leads to our response toward it.
• Aesthetics is one of the most vital elements of
the product’s first impression (first moment of
truth). It also forms the basis of the day-to-day
impression with user interactions in the total
design (second moment of truth). As such, it is
one of the most important decisions to be made
in the creation of a product.
"Aesthetics tells
the story of the product."
Image Credit:
EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR AND OTTOMAN, Charles & Ray Eames

The design community has long debated the
relationship between form and function and the role
of aesthetics. Here are some schools of thought:
• “Form follows function” is the commonly used
saying coined by American architect Louis
Sullivan, who later attributed the core idea to
Roman architect MarcusVitruvius Pollio.
This essentially means aesthetics follows
the intention for which the product was created.
This methodology, by definition, puts aesthetics
in a subordinate role.
"Attractive things
work better"
Why Aesthetics Matters
• In contrast, the architect Frank LloydWright
stated that form and function “should be one,
joined in a spiritual union.”
• As a rebuttal or clarification of The Design of
EverydayThings, where many felt he discounted
the importance of aesthetics, human-centered
design expert Donald Norman outlined evidence
that “attractive things work better” in Emotional
Design:WhyWe Love (or Hate) EverydayThings.
Norman stated that a “positive affect makes
people more tolerant of minor difficulties and
more flexible and creative in finding solutions.
Products designed for
more relaxed, pleasant occasions can enhance
their usability through pleasant, aesthetic
design. Aesthetics matter.”
• Similarly, when it comes to web design,
according to a UX Myths article, results
fromThe Stanford Credibility Project study
show a “clear link between solid design and
website credibility.”
• These connections between aesthetics and
actual usability are bolstered by the well-estab-
lished “halo effect” phenomenon.This form of
confirmation bias is defined inWikipedia as “the
tendency for an impression created in one area
to influence opinion in another area.”The same
can be said in the negative, called the "horns
effect", where “if the observer dislikes one
aspect of something, they will have a negative
predisposition toward everything about it.” Since
design is arguably the strongest influencer of a
first impression, this is the aspect that is likely
to be judged.
— Donald Norman
Image Credit:THE GUGGENHEIM, Frank LloydWright

Chapter 2
Understanding
the Design &
Innovation
Process

Embrace the Design Process
For decision-makers, the first step to making
purposeful aesthetic decisions is to take a walk
in the designer’s shoes and embrace a willingness
to follow and understand the design process.
As you make design decisions, trust the designer’s
core credo to advocate for the users’ needs.Then,
affix the users’ needs as your North Star or guide.
Challenge your team to do the same.
The designer’s process to make targeted aesthetic
design solutions includes examining brand
personality, technical constraints, cross industry
design trends, the function or purpose of the
product, fundamental design principles and user
triggers such as desires, emotion and familiarity.
From a design perspective, it is important to estab-
lish a solid targeted design direction via an overall
aesthetic strategy.This ensures a focused effort on
a specific target and creates a measuring stick when
the editing process kicks in.
Next, we’ll highlight methods from
the designer’s toolkit. This will lay
the foundation for taking that walk
in the designer’s shoes for making
rational design decisions.
“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”
— Yogi Berra

Create the User Lens
One toolkit essential is to create a user lens using
Inspirational DesignTargets (IDTs). IDTs are
essentially exaggerated and un-quantified personas.
Based on more than just "hard" research data, IDTs
allow us to “soup up” the personality and behaviors
to enhance their characteristics.These are personas
that pack a punch.They describe experiences using
context, motivation and emotion. Here’s how to
create an IDT:
• Gather inputs for the Inspirational Design
Target (IDT), such as segmentation models,
psychographics, brand audits,
opportunity maps, identified user needs,
pain points and defined problem statements.
• Build a narrative around a fictitious user’s life,
family, behaviors, shopping habits, food, etc.
This is more about personal rather than demo-
graphic segmentation and it is likewise more
about individual and specific behaviors rather
than psychographic or behavioral segmentation.
The goal is to make the IDTresemble a real
person as much as possible. We want to refer
to a person versus a broad idea, such as “Sienna”
instead of “Female Millennial #1.”
• Paint a picture through the IDT of a “person”
with whom the entire team across the develop-
ment process can have empathy.We want to
see the world through the eyes of our user.
• Generate visual IDT boards that tell the story
of our target person. Some examples below.

Generate Mood & Tone
The next step in the design process is to create visual
representations to drive the aesthetic choices.
Here’s how:
• Boil down the Inspirational Design
Targets (IDT's) to their core essence. Extract
key characteristics of the IDT, and likewise draw
out the main personalities and goals of the
IDT's into a visual representation using
words and images.
• Determine analogous products. Collect
other products this IDTpurchases and aspires
to purchase.
• Analyze and synthesize patterns, styles,
feelings and common approaches to the way
that they choose products, set goals or view
life, for example.
• Generate mood boards. Mood boards generate
an overall tone for the aesthetic direction and
typically consist of a collage of images, text
and samples. Use anything to help set the style
and mood of the design story you prepare to tell.
Visually, this can be shown in various ways,
such as through a color palette, typography,
photography, analogous products, overall
layout and graphic design and copy.

Develop Theme Boards
Based on the style and tone developed in the
mood boards, the designer visually shows overall
design themes that will tell the story of the design.
This includes these areas:
• Form languages
• Detail languages
• Material choices
• Texture choices
DesignThemes are part of the overall design
strategy.They visualize characteristics and
attributes we want the product to express through
real world examples.With the aesthetic expression
of the product now known, this approach creates an
efficient and focused tool the designer can use to
align stakeholders on downstream explorations.

Greg is a fast follower. He appreciates
what technology can do to help him be
more efficient—allowing more family time,
more time for himself and more time for
his DIYprojects.Technology is a tool for
him, it’s not an interest for him.
Meet Greg
Here’s an abbreviated example to illustrate how a tool like an
Inspirational DesignTarget (IDT) can lead to aesthetic explorations:
IDT
I D T
S U M M A R Y
M O O D
& T O N E
D E S I G N
T H E M E
Busy, open-minded, not tech-savvy, family-oriented,
tinkerer, has appreciation for doing it himself.
Approachable, simple,
clean, craft, durable.
Reduced interface, no-nonsense direct forms, human and
inviting, real materials, high quality and well-crafted details,
clear and simple touch points and iconography.
IDT–GREG

Chapter 3
How to Make
Meaningful
Aesthetic
Design Decisions

Six Proven Tips from
a Design Insider
Now that we understand some essential components of how
designers make aesthetic choices, how then, can we equip
decision-makers to make informed choices on behalf of the user?
In short, become comfortable with your discomfort.Trust the
designer and the design process. Ask the right questions. Enter the
world of the designer. Constantly research and refresh your
knowledge of design processes. Here are some tips:

When the design team lays out a design strategy,
open your mind and follow its logic.The team might
show a mood board, an IDTor persona board and a
strategy for how to move forward. If the product is
tailored for someone who values high-quality,
high-tech products and devices, does the proposed
design strategy support that thinking? Ask questions
and listen to why the design team has created that
specific design strategy.
Follow the flow.
1.
Image Credit: 8-INCH LCDTV, Naoto Fukasawa for Plus Minus Zero

Remember to look through the lens of the user,
not your own preferences. Hone the team’s focus
on your user.Test yourself too. Are you thinking
from your preferences or your user’s?Try
techniques like virtual role-play to see the
world from the user’s eyes.
Check your love for blue at the door.
2.
Image Credit: RECORD PLAYER, Dieter Rahms

Designers are trained in a world of questions
and critiques. Poking holes in design concepts is
a healthy and expected process to ensure a well-
thought-out outcome. Designers are also trained
to be advocates for your users as well. Ask open-
ended questions to understand the thinking in the
designer’s mind, such as: “What about the solution
will our target user respond to?” or “What elements
do you feel help tell the story?”
Encourage a constructive
conversation.
3.
Image Credit: COFFEE ANDTEA MAKER, Naoto Fukasawa

Ask designers to share more information about the
user. Being user-centered drives good designers.
Understanding user needs informs and inspires
emotional connections to holistic product experiences.
If you center the discussion on this, you may uncover
new insights that connect to people’s true needs. Do
not be afraid to ask questions like, “Tell me, how does
this meet the needs of the user?”
Ask foundational questions.
4.
Kaleidoscope assistedWhirlpool with the design of this beautiful, clean aesthetic
that secured key retailer placement and sold 40,000 units in three months.

The goal of the critique is to take in all input and
leverage knowledge of the user and their intended
usage to make decisions that will serve—and
delight—that user. Consider your brand, its promise
and its aspirations. Use that as a guide as well. Trust
your design team and the process.The more you
work through it together, the more the best design
direction will become apparent.
Keep the goal of the
critique in mind.
5.
Image Credit: LEICA DIGITAL RANGEFINDER CAMERA, Jony Ive and Marc Newson

In the design world, there is a long-standing schism
between data and instinct. Many designers are
driven by the belief that some people (namely
themselves) are gifted with an innate design sense.
They hype gut instinct.This may be because the
consumer does not always know what they want.
The famous Henry Ford quote “If I had asked my
customers what they wanted, they would have said
a faster horse” illustrates this thinking.The influx of
research and resulting data can be frustrating to a
designer who, incidentally, was trained and hired not
to give customers what they asked for but to show
them what they need.
Learn to balance data and instinct.
6.
From my twenty years of experience in designing,
shepherding design and driving design decisions,
I have seen the importance of data and learned that
it is not a replacement for instinct. Data can be an
indicator. But forcing a measurement around design
strategies can lead to a direction that contradicts
your initial goal. Some tips within a tip:
• Study and channel lessons from business
leaders who are advocates for growing gut
instinct, such as:
• JackWelsh’s “Straight from the Gut”
leadership style as chronicled in
numerous articles and books
• Steve Job’s nearly mythological
approach to instinct and the decision-
making process including his famous
quote, “It’s not the consumers’ job
to know what they want"
• Henry Mintzberg's thoughts on business
and management including theories that
strategic thinking "is reliant on intuitive
processes and a feel for what is right"
• Use research and data to grow your instinct
around aesthetic decision-making.
• Research and study data, but always use your
informed instinct to make your gut decision.
Gut gives you a personal, nontransferable,
value-based decision that is in harmony
with the mindset of aesthetics.
Image Credit: DSX SIDE CHAIR, Charles & Ray Eames

Conclusion
When it comes to design decisions, those involving aesthetics are among the most challenging.
Since they appeal to emotions and core human triggers, they are difficult to quantify.Though this
is a challenge, these aesthetic decisions powerfully impact the emotional connection a person has
with a product, while establishing credibility and communicating function.
So although it may seem daunting, it is not impossible. Open yourself up to following the design process,
challenge your team and be open to conversations.The way forward will become clear particularly when
you focus on the user’s needs. By always keeping the user top of mind, you will make rational decisions
that have meaning.

References
“‘Form Follows Function’ – An unclear design principle”
by Andreas Burghart, Centigrade
http://www.centigrade.de/blog/en/article/form-follows-function-an-unclear-design-principle/
“Frank Lloyd Wright and the Principles of Organic Architecture”
by Kimberly Elman
http://www.pbs.org/flw/legacy/essay1.html
“Myth #25: Aesthetics are not important if you have good usability”
by Zoltán Gócza, UX Myths
http://uxmyths.com/post/1161244116/myth-25-aesthetics-are-not-important-if-you-have-good-us
Stanford Web Credibility Research
http://credibility.stanford.edu/
“Halo Effect,” Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect
Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things
by Don Norman
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotion_design_at.html
More Management Theories from Jobs and Mintzberg:
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/1155928/Relying-intuition---always-trust-gut-feelings
http://www.mbsportal.bl.uk/taster/subjareas/busmanhist/mgmtthinkers/mintzberg.aspx

About Kaleidoscope
By focusing on improving life for people, we create
products and experiences that grow businesses from
our expertise at the intersection of consumer
insights, technology and health and wellness.
CHRIS COLLINS is the Director of Design at
Kaleidoscope, an innovation and product design firm
headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Are your product development
efforts building connections
with users?
CALL OR EMAIL ME
to see if a Product Design Audit is right for you.
Chris Collins
DIRECTOR OF DESIGN
ccollins@kascope.com
1.800.930.5793

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