Designers ‘break up’ with formerly favorite products
In an exercise intended to help designers understand the mindset of consumers, they wrote letters to branded items they once loved.
The exercise wasn’t just catharsis. It was intended to help us better empathize with consumers. The aspect of human nature embodied by the adage that people say one thing and do another can make it difficult for designers to truly capture consumers’ intentions, motivations, and values. So designers borrow cognitive psychology techniques that encourage people to create something as a means of explaining their tacit knowledge, latent needs, emotions, dreams, and motivations.
The results are pretty fantastic. Among the broken-up-with things: Netflix, a stud finder, a printer, Apple headphones, a Glad resealable container and a blender.
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