Co-experience: Understanding user experiences in social interaction

fizzy flavoured water seem to be about all but thirst or even the flavour? Or even
that small stitched labels on clothes say something about who you are? It is also
worth nothing that you are not supposed to sew them on yourself.
Symbols such as emblems, signatures, initials, heraldry and watermarks have
been used for centuries on products to identify producer or trader and guarantee
quality of produce (Haig 2003). As producing and creating new products
became an increasing business, companies needed to enable consumers to recognise
products as theirs when seeing them in stores and catalogues. Products
of the same manufacturer were made identifiable because of shared visual or
design elements or qualities in the design. Recognition did not have to rely on
a long history; it could also be designed as any other aspect of the product.
The first systematic corporate image development took place at AEG in Germany
at the hands of artistic director Behrens at around 1907. Setting standards
for products and interchangeable parts was important also at the corporate
level to make managing products and parts easier. What AEG stood for was
made concrete in visuals, factory buildings and products, each contributing
to the common image (Buddensieg 1984). Corporate image was later also addressed
in Italy in the thirties at Olivetti – despite a lack of design schools and
industrial designers as such, artists and architects were employed to design
Olivetti’s advertising, exhibitions, products and factories to a high standard
(Kicherer 1990). Philips was a leading technology product developer already in
the 30s. In the United States corporate branding emerged in the late 1950s and
early 1960s as IBM and Westinghouse integrated the design of their products,
graphic materials and even architecture to the consultants’ guidelines. (Cagan
& Vogel 2002)
As in the cases mentioned above, the use of industrial designers to improve
the appearance and style of products and product lines boosted sales – and not
only of consumer products but of industrial machines as well. The new consumers
of the post-war United States were the large middle class who could
now afford a new kind of life style and consumer products – this was the introduction
of mass markets. Youth culture emerged in the 50s and 60s, creating a
new and eager market segment for whom to market and design. Some companies
restyled their products every year to boost sales – designed obsolescence
was wasteful but provided more work and business. Some companies rejected
this path, and for example Braun’s home appliances were known to be durable,
long-lasting products with a style of their own. (Tambini 1996)
In the 1970s the values that had maintained the mass markets began to disintegrate.
An increased awareness of the needs of special user groups and a growing
demand for quality and safety split the market into smaller niches. People’s
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