From seduction to fulfillment

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the use of anthropomorphic form in the design of products. We assert that anthropomorphic form is not merely an embellishment but that it can be used as a means of solving design problems. Through a series of examples we illustrate the various uses of anthropomorphic form in the design of products. Our distinctions provide designers and researchers a way to classify and understand the use of anthropomorphic form in design and in doing so, increase the potential that anthropomorphic form be used in an appropriate and compelling manner.

Customizing Your Demons: Anxiety Reduction via Anthropomorphizing and Destroying an “Anxiety Avatar”

“…Conveyance of psychological or emotional self-concepts onto avatars, while absent of overt cues associated with physical disabilities (e.g., wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs), can also be facilitated via customization. Specifically, the ability to assign human qualities (e.g., personality) to objects, virtual or otherwise, is defined as anthropomorphism (DiSalvo and Gemperle, 2003). Scholars in various domains have acknowledged that individuals have an anthropomorphic tendency to imbue human attributes onto non-human entities (Reeves and Nass, 1996).…”

Diseño emocional, una contribución a la sostenibilidad

“…Lo anterior puede lograrse de diferentes maneras, la más sencilla es expresar la emoción a través de la configuración formal; el diseñador utiliza elementos literales asociados con determinado sentimiento. La expresión a la que Desmet hace referencia, puede implementarse a partir de referencias antropomórficas (DiSalvo & Gemperle, 2003); una estrategia básica y efectiva del diseño para expresar emociones, la podemos encontrar en el uso de emoticones en mensajes de texto, o los diseños de la compañía italiana Alessi, los cuales exploran un elemento de la afectividad a través de metáforas, recurriendo también a colores y texturas. Una cara sonriente expresa alegría y por lo tanto estos objetos pretenden ser alegres y amigables.…”

Yeah, I Talk to My Car...So What?: Roles and Levels of Closeness in Person-product Relationship

“…Although the term personification is valid, if we assign to objects intentions, a personality and a character, the term anthropomorphism is more accurate. This name has been widely used from a psychological perspective (Epley et al, 2008;Guthrie, 1995), it is also possible to find studies that use the prism of Design, Art and Marketing (DiSalvo & Gemperle, 2003;Frayer, 2010).…”

“…We live side by side with objects, we interact with them, we are part of a world of objects that bring positive and negative emotions in us (Desmet, 2002;Norman, 2005). In many ways the objects are the ones that define who we are and who we want to be (Belk, 1988;Kleine & Menzel Baker, 2004) at the same time, we define them in human terms, giving them character, intentions and personalities (DiSalvo & Gemperle, 2003;Epley, Waytz, Akalis, & Cacioppo, 2008;Frayer, 2010;Govers & Mugge, 2004). Such longlife cohabitation causes not only a constant coexistence with objects, but a relation in terms that transcend the physical or utilitarian interaction, in other words, affective and emotional way.…”