The Effectiveness of Positive Design in Tableware Design for Iranian Young Couples

Positive design is one of the latest sub-disciplines of industrial design that was introduced to the design world by Donald Norman. In general, positive design can be considered beyond critical design and functionalist design. Whereas critical design attempts to show social abnormalities and functional design emphasizes preserving social normality, positive design is aimed at the promotion of life and human characteristics from a normal state to an ideal state. According to the studies by Desmet (2012), people can experience different positive emotions facing the products, although some emotions are experienced more frequently (such as joy, satisfaction, and amusement) and some other emotions are less frequently experienced (worship, lust, and dreaminess). His studies indicated that all 25 positive emotions can be experienced. The different sources of emotions provide a wide range of opportunities for the designers. When the purpose of designing a product is provoking a positive emotion, the designer can look at the object and search for an opportunity for creating human-product interaction or human-human activity which is made possible through an object. The positive design has recently found its role in the community and is considered as a factor linking aesthetics and ethics, or in other words, sensational and ethical design. However, its theoretical foundations and functions have not been fully studied yet. Regarding the dilemmas of contemporary societies and their effects on the family environment, it seems the opportunity of interaction and conversation between the family members has been minimized regarding the dilemmas of the contemporary societies and their impacts on the families’ environment. Emotions help us in decision making, and positive emotions. in particular, provoke more creativity and learning in individuals. People who are in a positive emotional state can better handle the problems and find better solutions, as stated by psychologists The aim of the research is to improve family relationships by stimulating positive feelings in users. Hence, according to the purpose of Positive Design and regarding the reduced interactions among family members, meal times could be considered crucial for creating positive emotions in this smallest community while they get together at the table. The main question that needs to be answered is how to evoke positive emotions in the user through design. In this cross-sectional study, observation and data gathering were achieved through field and library research. In the next step, due to the novelty of the issue, a positive design approach and the relevant available examples were extensively dealt with. Furthermore, the study of the product situation, an initial survey of homes, national and global markets were performed using conceptual diagrams. Final investigations and field research were done by collecting the data related to the young couples and their relationship with the products through ethnography, questionnaire, observation, and interview. As a final point, conclusion and selection of the top designs based on the user’s needs, positive design approach, proposing suggestions and research added values were on the agenda.
The initial information about the state of tableware at homes of 20 young couples, residing in Shiraz and Tehran, was gathered through ethnography, observation and interviews. The questions were related to the kinds of dishes existing at homes and the user’s opinions about them. A notable point was realized in the process of studying the users. Many changes have occurred within the concept of family life during recent years, i.e., reduction of size/members, postponed marriages, and increased level of divorce. According to a new model of FLC by Gilly and Enis, the term “young couple” has got a new meaning: a couple within the age of 18-34, who have married recently and don’t have children.
The subject population at the final phase of the research includes young couples from all over Iran. Sampling was done by a purposeful method so that a couple was selected from every city, and other young couples they introduced as their acquaintances, were added as new samples. The sample size contained about 50 couples, among which 13 people were men and 37 were women. According to the definition of a young couple by Samadi (2007), these people were in the range of 18 - 34 years old. A questionnaire including two sections was charted for the research. The overall information about the participants and their relation with the tableware was studied in the first part, and the level of excitement -stimulated by the product- through 25 positive emotions, in the second part. At this stage, the level of provocation of every 25 emotions (stimulated by the tableware) was measured using seven-points Likert scale. Each of the positive emotions provoked by dishes holds different levels of severity. It has been observed that some emotions are experienced more frequently, viz. admiration, satisfaction, relaxation, amusement, euphoria, and joy. Some other emotions are less intense and are experienced less frequently: anticipation, lust and Worship.
It was observed that the emotions of admiration, satisfaction, relaxation, amusement, euphoria, and joy are experienced more frequently than the other emotions. In order to investigate the significant difference between the 10 categories of tableware and the six emotions, the Kruskal-Wallis analysis was employed at this point. The results of the test indicated that there is a significant difference between the tableware and the six selected emotions.There are six emotional resources regarding the human-product interactions that can be defined as the following: Focusing on the object (dish), its high quality should be paid attention to. As a result, porcelain material was selected due to its quality, strength, beauty, elegance, and healthiness in addition to the users’ demands. Focusing on the concept, the pieces of tableware should allow for different layouts on the table, according to the kind of food and family culture. Focusing on interaction, producing different separate pieces facilitates access to different foods. Focusing on activity, different forms of the dishes make them suitable for different purposes, or for being used as a complement for other dinner services. Focusing on ourselves, different harmonized forms, and applying beautiful decorations and garnish can make us feel proud of our table. Focusing on others, tableware layout and decoration should have a positive effect on others. By means of a vase or candle, the described positive effects could increase, and communication would get easier for the individuals. According to the diagrams and the results of the previous sections, it seems the features that provoke each of the six emotions can be defined as the following: Admiration: being good-looking, using specific techniques, harmony between the pieces, having an integral identity Satisfaction: ordered, geometric, and logical layout, convenient access, avoiding complexity
Relaxation: plain and mild forms, using curved forms, avoiding complexity
Amusement: it seems that new and novel forms of tableware and various layouts lead to the provocation of amusement emotion. Old and repeated forms reduce this emotion
Euphoria: using uniform patterns, various layouts, creating different spaces in a dish, avoiding old and repeated forms
Joy: simplicity, integrity, without drawing, creating different spaces in a dish
The results give us considerable evidence that, enriching social/family communications is probable through design. A study on varieties of tableware revealed that form, material, colour, and layout of the dishes affect the interactions between family members during the meals, provoke positive emotions and also may improve their relationship.