Good product and packaging design embraces ergonomics to ensure that the consumer’s interaction with the product is considered and offers functional benefits and advantages.
But when the designer also applies brand thinking, they can create engaging and brand-appropriate experiences that reinforce the values of the brand and deliver an experience that the consumer, often subconsciously, will want to experience again and again. It’s what we call "addictive ergonomics".
We’re all familiar with the Biro clicking phenomenon, when a compulsion to repeatedly press the button becomes a subconscious habit, but we rarely think about why this happens or what it is about this action that is so appealing.
In fact it’s a combination of several sensorial elements that work together to deliver this satisfying experience.
The button is placed in an ergonomically advantageous position at the top of the pen so the thumb can press in a positive manner - it’s the way our opposing fingers and thumb are designed to work.
The ratchet and spring mechanisms are carefully engineered to deliver the right balance between the effort to press and the functional requirements of the internal mechanism.
The miniature ‘lock and load’ sound is a delicate combination of aural and tactile vibrations that resonate through the palms of your hands.
Together, these factors all contribute to an engaging experience that is uniquely satisfying, but what’s also powerful is that it reinforces the very aspect of the pen’s attributes that makes it different from other pens.
It advertises and encourages the use of its retractable nib in a way that many other, more sophisticated products, often fail to do. It behaves in a brand-like way and delivers the perfect on-brand experience.
More and more brand owners are looking for ways to reinforce their brand values through the physical and sensorial qualities their customers experience when purchasing, using and even disposing of the product and packaging.
Standing out on-shelf used to be the holy grail but is now a basic prerequisite. Everything from opening devices, delivery systems, buttons and triggers, handles, gadgetry, and even tamper evident features need to communicate their benefit and immediately engage the consumer in a way that supports the brand and encourages them to pick it up and investigate further.
Addictive ergonomics playing a vital role in product selection is typified by the disc drawer function on a CD player. Press a button and the drawer pops out ready to load, simple. But it’s not is it?
Because how that drawer slides out, whether it’s a jerky, noisy affair, or silently damped, gliding slowly out of its slot, makes a huge difference to our perception of the whole machine.
Consumers lined up in Dixons pressing buttons and watching CD drawers open and shut may not know it but they’re making vital emotional decisions about the brand and the future experience they imagine having with their eventual purchase choice.
Delivering the right functional brand experiences is a challenge, especially in the FMCG sector where margins are tight and packaging costs are sensitive.
Projects often start out with the best intentions; even the humble plastic actuator for a personal care aerosol can be designed and executed in a way that delivers all the right messages, combining intuitive ergonomics, appropriate aesthetics and functional attributes.
But if during the implementation process, too many compromises are made - in tooling design, in material selection or light-weighting exercises - then there is the very real danger that the final product will not deliver the necessary combination of sensorial cues to ensure an addictive experience.
There are notable companies who intrinsically understand the value of developing products that have addictive ergonomics that encourage and reward use: Macintosh when developing the iPhone touch screen transitions, Audi’s car doors, Grolsch’s unique beer bottle closure and Procter and Gamble with their satisfyingly simple squeeze pack for Ariel Gel, to name a few.
These brands all benefit from a user-centric approach, applying design to reinforce their unique brand values through positive and relevant experiences.
Bic, creative director, Echo