Proceedings of the ASME 2014 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition ASME IMECE 14 November 14-20, 2014, Montréal, Québec, Canada IMECE2014-40443 VISUAL PRODUCT EVALUATION: USING THE SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIAL TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF BASIC GEOMETRY ON USER PERCEPTION Sofiane Achiche sofiane.achiche@polymtl.ca École Polytechnique de Montréal Montréal, Québec, Canada Anja Maier amai@dtu.dk Technical University of Denmark Kgs, Lyngby, Copenhagen, Denmark Krasimira Milanova k.v.milanova@abv.bg Technical University of Denmark Kgs. Lyngby, Copenhagen, Denmark Aurelian Vadean aurelian.vadean@polymtl.ca École Polytechnique de Montréal Montréal, Québec, Canada ABSTRACT Products evoke emotions in people. Emotions can influence purchase decisions and product evaluations. It is widely acknowledged that better product performance and higher user satisfaction can be reached through aesthetic design. However, when designing a new product, most of the attention is generally paid to enhance its functionality and usability and much less consideration is given to the emotional needs of users. This paper investigates the connection between emotions and product features. Various forms of vases are used as a product case. Additionally, a compact list of product-specific semantic descriptors is first developed using a classification based on Jordan’s four pleasures model. Paper-based surveys, face-to- face interviews, and statistical methods were performed in this paper, where significant correlations between semantic descriptors and product geometry were found. Prototypes of two vases were developed based on elicited emotions and a short validation on aesthetic value was performed. Our results show core set of geometric features of a vase have the strongest impact on emotional responses from users: the opening of the neck, the height of the neck, the base of the neck (width), and the base (width). 1. INTRODUCTION It is known that a user’s first impression of a product plays a strong role in overall product experience [1] and also impacts purchasing decisions [2]. It is also widely acknowledged that ‘attractive things work better’ (Don Norman). However, little is known about the relationship between particular product features and the responses those features elicit, and little is known about how designers may intentionally design for eliciting specific emotions. Designers generally work on aspects such as geometry, texture and color in order to endow the product with a certain emotional value. In this paper we will focus on geometry as it is often the first factor to be selected by designers and one of the first impressions the user gets when coming in contact with a product. Products may be seen as media connecting designers and consumers [3] and products are ideally designed to satisfy consumers’ needs. As Cacioppo et al. state “emotions guide, enrich and ennoble life; they provide meaning to everyday existence; they render the valuation placed on life and property” [0]. Users experience different emotions facing the same product [5] and according to Desmet [5, 7], these emotions can be grouped into three different emotional approaches: on the basis of their manifestations; on the basis of their preceding appraisals; and on the basis of their underlying dimensions. Aesthetics as a term refers to two different concepts – product aesthetic and experience aesthetic. Product aesthetic relates to