Psychological+Theories+Affecting+Design

=Introduction=

In order to create a successful design, many psychological theories must be taken into consideration in order to consumers and most predominantly, their user experience goals. In the quest to determine what satisfys humans in terms of design, three significant theories are refered. These three theories have all been established by reputable scientists and doctors. They all try to explain the human thought process in terms of emotion. Since pretty much all of the user experience goals have to do emotion, these theories are extremely significant in the design process. The problem is that they are all extremely convincing, especially when the establishment process of them is researched. Here are the theories in basic terms that all of us can understand.

=The James-Lange Theory= This theory dates back to the 1890s and has one main point. It states that action precedes emotion in the human brain. Also, it states that the human brain will interpret actions observed as an emotion rather than merely an action itself. An example of how emotion precedes action is the emotion of fear. If you are about to be run over by a car, first you will determine the emotion of fear and then perform an action such as jump out of the way. "Introduction to Psychology"

=The Cannon-Bard Theory= This was a theory proposed by two pshychologists dring the 1920s. It disagreed with the James-Lange theory and stated that the emotion that preceeds action is merely percieved emotion. This percieved emotion is first interpreted and then the actions are followed and determined from cognitive appraisal. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

"Introduction to Psychology."

=The Schachter Two Factor Theory= This theory was developed by two scientists who did structured experiements on willing participants to develop this theory. The main premise of this theory is that we do something when we want to do something and as a result, generate meaning from what we have just done. Moreover, we will experience a feeling and then somewhat label the feeling as angry, happy, excited etc. The two factors as proposed by the title of this theory is that to experience emotion, we must first be physically aroused and then we must develop meaning for this feeling cognitively. "Introduction to Psychology"

=Conclusion=

All three of these theories feature extremely different interpretations on how human beings experience emotion. Therefore, a large stride in the design process is determining which theory is correct. This stage is addressed differently from different designers since all three are extremely convincing and arguable. The only solution in determining which theory is most correct is doing a great deal of research on all three and then applying your own person experiences and feelings to the equation. This should result in a good understanding of human emotion and you as the designer can move onto the design.

=Resources= Benyon, David, Phil Turner, and Susan Turner. __Designing Interactive Systems__. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2005. 423-426.

"Introduction to Psychology." Cornell College. 5 Nov. 2006 .

"Two-Factor Theory of Emotion." __Changing Minds__. 7 Dec. 2006 .