Guidelines of Applying User's Unconscious Behavior to Product Innovation

Abstract

In today's rapidly advancing technological era, the speed of product iteration is continuously increasing. In such context, innovation in user experience becomes a crucial aspect of business competition. Designers leverage market feedback and technological advancements to enhance product quality, reduce costs, and shorten development cycles. Product iteration is undeniably key to achieving commercial success. Chapter 1 of this study first describes the current real-world issues. In practice, designers often build on the knowledge of previous products while focusing on commercial objectives during product iterations. This approach has led to the creation of products with overly complex functions and forms, which not only fail to enhance user interaction experience but also increase the user's learning and cognitive burden. Simple, intuitive product interactions that naturally align with users' unconscious behaviors are what users need in a fast-paced daily routine. However, current product design research rarely starts from the user's unconscious behavior to explore product interaction. This study is based on Naoto Fukasawa's Without Thought Design theory, aiming to develop a Design Guideline that utilizes users' unconscious behaviors during product use to innovate and improve existing product interaction designs. This thesis adopts an inductive approach, deriving a theoretical design guideline through a literature review. Chapter 2: The literature review covers the origins and relevant theories of unconscious behavior, including studies of the collective unconscious in psychoanalysis and consciousness in ecological psychology. It also includes the definition, importance, and design process of product interaction design. Additionally, Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive review of the foundational theories of Without Thought Design. It attempts to analyze these theories through the lens of semiotics and rhetoric. Moreover, Chapter 2 analyzes three types of Without Thought Design, which apply users' unconscious behavior in product interaction in different ways. Chapter 3 presents the design guideline, highlighting the four key design processes which cover Project Research, Transcribe and Analyze User’s Unconscious Behavior, Apply Design Route, and Design Delivery. It explains how to record and analyze users' unconscious behaviors, determine design routes, and innovate interaction design through these routes, ultimately achieving innovation in user interaction experience. Chapter 4 applies the theoretical design guideline to a practical design project, using a glue gun pen as an example. It provides a detailed description of the specific product and target user research, collection and analysis of unconscious behaviors, and application of design routes. The practical application of this research is demonstrated through two design concepts. Chapter 5 summarizes the entire content. Overall, this study aims to bridge the gap between users' unconscious behavior and product design, proposing a design guideline that utilizes users' unconscious behavior for product interaction innovation. This approach not only reduces users' cognitive load but also enhances the user experience.