UXPA Boston Conference 2018

Design is powerful – it can generate excitement, bring joy, provoke anger, or trigger anxiety, sometimes all in the same interaction. From the big decisions about a product’s purpose all the way down to the myriad pixel-level arguments lost and won, designers have a great responsibility to safeguard the happiness of the users we serve. But what do we really know about the nature of happiness? And how can we actually make everyone happy?

In this talk, we will deconstruct the concept of “happiness” and offer designers a framework for considering the emotional impact of their work. We’ll explore the meaning, dimensions, and pre-conditions of happiness while examining the wide range of satisfying outcomes and their implications for design. Drawing on recent research in psychology as well as real-world design examples, you’ll learn when and how to evoke joy, humor, reassurance, comfort, and other positive feelings through applying a set of guiding principles for the pursuit of happiness.