User Experience Design at Sony Ericsson - Introducing the Virtual Pet

Jordan – Designing Pleasurable Products
Jordan’s (2000) framework is intended to help designers create pleasurable products. The framework is built on
the work of anthropologist Lionel Tiger, who has identified four types of pleasure:
Physio-pleasure Refers to the pleasure delivered by the sensory organs, such as touch, taste and smell.
In the context of mobile phones, physio-pleasure could for example be the touch or
feel of a product, or the smell of a phone when taken out of the box for the first time.
Socio-pleasure Refers to the enjoyment derived from relationships with others. Products can facilitate
social interaction in a number of ways. This is especially relevant for a mobile phone,
of which the primal objective is to support peoples’ communication. A spectacular
mobile phone could also act as a focal point for conversation, much like a piece of
jewelry. Furthermore, a mobile phone could help users identify themselves as member
of a social group and thereby give them socio-pleasure.
Psycho-pleasure Refers to the kind of feelings that arise when a product has a cognitive and emotional
fit that helps users accomplish tasks smoothly. For a mobile phone this can mean ease
of use that helps users feel that they are in control, or built-in games that challenge
users and give them a sense of achievement.
Ideo-pleasure Relates to people’s values, a certain mobile phone could for example communicate
certain ideals. A recyclable battery or a biodegradable packaging could help users feel
that they are environmentally responsible. Aesthetical values also affect ideo-pleasure -
products are not just appreciated for their functionality.
Comments
Jordan sees the four-pleasure framework as means for structuring thoughts as regards to pleasure, it is not
intended - in itself - to explain why people experience pleasure. The focus is on the use quality pleasure, but as
pleasure - in a utilitarian way - can be seen as the result of many other use qualities, more use qualities are covered
indirectly. In Jordan’s book Designing Pleasurable Products, numerous methods - that can be valuable when designing
products that give users pleasure - are presented. Among these are checklists that cover variations in users that
designers should take notice of, as well as product properties that relate to these differences. Jordan is one of the
pioneers in the area of user experience design and he has been preaching designers to look beyond usability for
several years. His framework might be one of the more promising and practical approaches on how to design for
a total user experience.
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