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February 12 2012

rubbd

#11: Don’t Use Anthropomorphism if it Does Not Serve Any Purpose

smiling dustpan

Part 11 of the series 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design

Anthropomorphism can be a powerful tool in product design. But there are also risks involved that urge designers to be careful in their implementation. This final Golden Rule is also a warning: Don’t use anthropomorphism simply to ‘dress up’ a product; it will make it distracting and confusing, and although it may increase the initial appeal of the product, people will soon lose interest for it, as the promise of human likeness is empty.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphia anthropomorphism and design manufacture Manufactured-Bodies

February 06 2012

rubbd

#10: Enhance Human Experience, Don’t Replace it

W

Part 10 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design.

The hidden danger with interactive products is that they will become so good at fulfilling our needs that they start to replace actual humans. This is not a futuristic scenario: In an increasing number of locations, from supermarket self-scan checkouts to online bookstores, automatization has replaced human contact. Eventually this may lead to us becoming alienated from other people, which seems to contradict today’s rapidly increasing communication possibilities. Anthropomorphic products have the potential to support, stimulate and enhance human contact, but they may also eliminate it.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Manufactured-Bodies

January 31 2012

rubbd

#9: Be Aware of the Ecosystem You’re Invading

dog and roomba

Part 9 in the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design.

With most products, one wouldn’t normally worry about the environment that it enters. However, anthropomorphic products inevitably elicit responses from others, even from non-human entities. This can have obvious advantages, for instance, when a human-shaped scarecrow frightens off the birds. But when daddy’s new toy frightens the children or the pets, there is a significant chance that it will end up on the attic. Bringing home an anthropomorphic product can be like introducing a new person into the household, which doesn’t always go as smoothly as the family might hope.

Image via I’m Not Obsessed.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia

January 26 2012

rubbd

Rule #8: Use Human Ethics

voodoo knife block

Part 8 of the 11 part series Anthropomorphism and Design. 

Anthropomorphic products blur the boundaries between products and people. Ethical norms for people don’t usually apply to products and vice versa. For example, there’s no need to apologize if you accidentally run into an object. But with an anthropomorphic product, you might instinctively say sorry, because it seems like the right thing to do. People can apply their attitude towards humans to products, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But transferring attitudes from a product to a human might lead to problems, especially when the product induces abnormal social behavior. Don’t make your product do what you wouldn’t want a person to do.

Image via Lazy Bone.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Manufactured-Bodies

January 21 2012

rubbd

Rule #7: Respect Social Standards

clippy suicide

Part 7 of the 11 part series Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design. 

Anthropomorphic products enter the human social space. Humans have the most complex social behavior of any organism on Earth. Anyone or anything trying to join in should be careful to do it right. Although an anthropomorphic product may function perfectly, if it crosses social boundaries it will still tick people off. This can cause the product to become a social reject, which won’t do sales much good. Luckily, it’s not hard to figure out why things go wrong. Imagine a scenario where a person and a product interact, then replace the product with a second person. If the actions of the second person and the product don’t match up, then there’s something off about the product’s design.

Image via Anvari. For other parts in the series, see part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6.

Tags: Culture becomes Nature anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Back to the Tribe Officegarden Technorhetoric Toys-are-Us

January 17 2012

rubbd

Rule #6: Meet People’s Expectations

robot school teacher

For past entries and an introduction to the 11 Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design, click here. 

People expect many things from each other: Expect them to say hi in the morning; expect them to buy a ticket for the bus; expect them to watch out when driving a car; expect them to do their jobs well. People also expect certain behaviors from anthropomorphic products. When a product works differently than promised, this can cause confusion or anger. When a person gives commands to a product and the product ignores him, he becomes frustrated, because the product feels like a person who rudely turns his back. You wouldn’t accept that behavior from a person, so why would you accept it from a product?

The robot Saya has been developed to teach elementary-grade school children. She can speak different languages and make facial expressions, and hopefully confirm to what the kids expect of an instructor.

Image via The Daily Mail.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Biomimicmarketing Bionics Manufactured-Bodies robotics

January 10 2012

rubbd

Rule #5: Consider Zoomorphism as an Alternative

aibo dog

Part 5 of the 11 part series Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design. 

When a product imitates animal behavior, the strict social rules governing anthropomorphic products don’t apply. People may be much more forgiving when a zoomorphic product makes an error, and fascinated rather than disturbed when it behaves other than expected. Similar to how we think a person walking in circles on the street is weird, but a dog chasing its tail is funny, Sony’s robot dog Aibo is considered adorable, while Honda’s humanoid robot Asimo seems clumsy and slow.

Image via Flicker user pt. For the rest of the series, see part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Humane-Technology Manufactured Animals robotics

January 06 2012

rubbd

Rule #4: Complex Products Tend to Be Anthropomorphized

angry young computer

Part 4 of the 11 part series Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design. See part 1, part 2, and part 3. 

Think about a spoon. Now think about a spoon with a face. What do you think it is? Most likely, you think it’s a spoon with a face. Now think about a computer, which doesn’t have a face. Are you more likely to swear at the spoon or the computer? Humans have a natural tendency to anthropomorphize things they can’t explain. In the past, mysterious phenomena such as the weather, the sun or the moon were anthropomorphized in the form of gods.

Nowadays, technological products have advanced to such a degree that most people don’t understand them. They try to explain a device by ascribing human emotions and motives to its behavior. The more complex, capable and autonomous a product is, the more likely it’s going to be anthropomorphized. Designers of technologically advanced products should anticipate how users will anthropomorphize their product, and design it accordingly.

Photo via Top Design Mag.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Back to the Tribe Physical-computing

December 25 2011

rubbd

Rule #3: Keep it ASS: Abstract, Simple and Subtle

senseo coffee maker

Part 3 of the 11 part series Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design. See part 1 and part 2. 

Making good use of anthropomorphism isn’t easy. As you’ve probably already noticed, people may dislike products purely because of their anthropomorphic elements. One way to reduce this risk is to downplay the anthropomorphic qualities: keep it as simple, subtle and abstract as possible. When the implementation is so subtle that most people won’t consciously notice it, they are less likely to be annoyed, while the product can still achieve the desired effect. Abstraction reduces the chance of directly evoking negative emotions, while preserving the positive associations.

The Senseo coffee maker, above, was designed to resemble a butler bowing down to serve a hot cup of java. The anthropomorphic form is not obvious, but it still succeeds in evoking the pleasant sensation of being served.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Biomimicmarketing Food Technology Humane-Technology

December 21 2011

rubbd

Rule #2: Different People Anthropomorphize Differently

big disk la cie

Part 2 in the 11 part series Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Product Design. All text is excerpted from the Next Nature book.

What people experience as anthropomorphic is highly personal. Tests have shown that when given a selection of products with anthropomorphic characteristics, people differ greatly in how human-like they perceive the objects to be. Even if an anthropomorphic product fits the cultural, social and ethical norms of a society, it’s still possible some people just won’t like it because they experience it differently.

A computer with a glowing round button is a fairly generic design. But to those who’ve seen Stanley Kubricks’ 2001: A Space Odyssey there’s an unavoidable association with murderous hardware. Would you trust the unblinking blue eye of a Lacie hard drive?

Tags: Culture becomes Nature anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Biomimicmarketing Physical-computing

December 18 2011

rubbd

Rule #1: Any Association that Can be Made, Will be Made

gherkin london

Welcome to the 11 part series The Golden Rules of Anthropomorphism and Product Design. In this series, we will be examining how designers can better integrate human-like forms or behavior into their work. Does an anthropomorphic design inspire positive reactions, or does it leave the audience confused, irritated or even offended? Read on to find out. All posts are excerpted from the Next Nature Book. 

–By Joran Damsteeg, Koert van Mensvoort and Hendrik-Jan Grievink–

People have evolutionarily built-in mechanisms that help us to recognize the human face and body, and what gender, race and mood those faces and bodies are projecting. We’re so good at recognizing each other, we do it even when it’s not applicable. When we look at animals, machines, and random objects we infer characteristics that aren’t there. Especially when a product was intended to have certain human qualities, it’s easy to imagine even more. Since designers can create anthropomorphic products without even realizing it, it’s better to design these characteristics intentionally.

London’s Swiss Re, aka The Gherkin, is a famous example of a building that looks like something more than an innocent suite of offices. Click through for more examples of unintentional anthropomorphizing.

Photos (in order) via Jovike, Happy Chair is Happy, Vierkante Driehoek, and Things that Look Like Faces.

Tags: Nature becomes culture anthropomorphism and design Anthropomorphobia Biomimicmarketing Image-Consumption
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