Fundamental dimensions of affective responses to product shapes

One of designers’ important tasks is to evoke specific affective responses via the manipulation of product shapes. In this research, we investigate the structure of the relationship between product shapes and affective responses. We selected three product categories—automobile, sofa, and kettle—representing large, medium, and small products, and conducted three parallel studies to uncover fundamental dimensions of affective responses to product shapes. From factor analysis results of the three product categories, we distilled four fundamental dimensions, the trend factor (T), the emotion factor (E), the complexity factor (C), and the potency factor (P). These fundamental dimensions underlying affective judgments of product shapes provide a common framework for studies on affective responses to product shapes. For each of the four dimensions, we also extract significant shape features and feature levels called the “significant shape features” (SSFs) that highly correlate to specific affective responses.Relevance to industryPsychological aspects of ergonomics have become increasingly important in the pursuit of products that are not only safe and efficient, but also pleasurable to use. To understand the perceptions and preferences of consumers, design companies or design departments often need to conduct studies on affective responses elicited by products. This work uncovers four fundamental dimensions in the affective reactions to product shapes, which could provide the basic set of adjectives for such affective studies. Because each product has its unique characteristics, the set of adjectives in such a survey should include both the fundamental dimensions and adjectives tailored to the particular product.