Abstract:

Donald Norman, a psychologist and computer scientist, himself, points out that “we
scientists now understand how important emotion is to everyday life, how valuable.” He is commenting
on recent scientific findings about emotion and cognition by cognitive scientists, psychologists, and
doctors. The evidence reveals an intertwined relationship between emotion and cognition. Some of
these findings include: mood as a stimulant to effective reasoning, mood as affecting the creativity of
the designer, and psychological effect by aesthetically pleasing design. Scientists tell us about
emotions and cognition. Then these scientific finding are being tapped by design professionals, who
are already leading the way in integrating emotion and feeling in designs from automobiles to cereal
commercials
This paper provides an overview of these recent scientific findings about emotion and cognition and
suggests that teaching about emotion and cognition should be part of modern design education.
Sensory appeals are all around us. As educators, we must be concerned with how and what our
design students learn about the power of emotion in design. Students need to understand not only
effective uses, but ethical uses, as well. Design education must be expanded to include what science
and industry has discovered about cognition and emotion.