Cognitive Design

Metaphors reveal a lot about how we think. Unpacking metaphors means unpacking thought and emotion - an essential task for cognitive designers.

Tangled Spaghetti in My Head: Making use of metaphor is a brief introduction to an important technique – based on asking 12 questions for exploring client metaphors. This technique is used in therapy but it can be easily adapted to design conversations. Try it and let me know how it works. 

Finding unmet cognitive needs (especially ones rooted in emotions and other visceral factors) is a wellspring for product and service innovation. Discovering these needs can be tricky. Listening for metaphors (or doing a metaphor hunt) has always been a good technique.

 Dan Saffer writes a to-the-point Masters thesis (Carnegie Mellon School of Design) on the role of metaphor in interaction design. Clearly illustrates how metaphors lower the cognitive load of an artifact by translating abstract concepts into something more familiar and visceral for users. He warns:

“Unquestionably, companies have fostered onto users all sorts of misbegotten metaphors, stuffing existing functionality into uncomfortable and awkward metaphors. Yet, when used properly, they can be a powerful tool for conceptualizing, orienting, and personifying products.”

If you don’t want to read the entire thesis check out Dan’s work on slide share.