FUN FACTORS IN PRODUCT DESIGN:
UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN USERS AND PRODUCTS

Until recently, user preferences of products have mainly been linked to product functionality. However, the scope of usability has been widened into a broader concept in which usability has become to refer to more than ease of use, encompassing the ‘joy of use’ and pleasure-based approaches to design. Fun, as one of the dimensions of pleasure, comprises different aspects and currently is a hot topic within design and emotion literature. Nevertheless, how to integrate the ‘fun element’ into product design still remains unclear. The literature survey reveals that fun is mostly studied in relation to software applications, whereas it lacks comprehensiveness in product design. This paper tries to constitute an overall picture of fun in product design by analyzing users’ understanding of fun and comparing the findings with the related human-computer interaction (HCI) literature.

An empirical study was conducted to reveal users’ understanding of fun and the attributes of products that they associate as fun. In total, 39 participants were interviewed. A keyword pool was created comprising terms describing users’ understanding of fun in general, and attributes of objects they consider as fun. The keywords were then categorized under four subject headings: visual qualities; product qualities; functional qualities; and referential dimensions.

Visual qualities group comprise statements that refer to the aesthetical considerations of the users when evaluating fun products, including keywords related form, color, material and general outlook. Product qualities group comprise statements that are related with certain attributes of fun objects such as originality, challenge, and surprise factor. Functional qualities group comprised statements that are related with usefulness, usability, and multi-purpose. Referential dimensions group comprise statements that refer to the aspects that users associate with the fun products, for example memories, pleasant or unpleasant events, and human personality.

The study results show that although HCI deals mainly with software applications, it was possible to identify similarities in the attributes of physical products that users associate with fun. The specified product attributes related to fun, the conditions for an object to be labeled as fun, and the context within which fun was identified are described. The findings of the study showed that the pool of keywords constitute a valuable database for designers to understand users’ perceptions and expectations in relation to fun, and they are suggested as helpful for designing fun products that fulfil user needs expansively.