Nineteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Emotional design seeks to attain a clear understanding of all phases in the emotional process of attachment and detachment between user and product. A loved object, whether human or non-human, is vulnerable to loss. Although grief and loss are renowned concepts as subjects in psychological studies, studies on the emotional process of grief rarely deal with the loss of a non-human object. This study aims to explore users’ experience upon the loss of an object, as well as redefining this process for the design of products that attempt forming emotional bonds with users, by asking what happens to product attachment when the product can no longer function, is taken away, or gets lost. The data was generated utilizing surveys, in-depth interviews, and narrative inquiry. The outcomes demonstrate that participants’ emotional reactions to the loss of their objects may align with the reactions of grief. The interviews show an instant decline in emotions upon the loss, exhibiting a drastic change into the negative emotional state which does not immediately improve. In the process that follows, the emotional pattern varied in each situation, although multiple indications of grief were present in all.