• Archives of design research
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.299-308
• /
• 2003

The existing market patterns and social structures have been changed according to the trends of digital and informational society of the 21st century. The characteristics of the consumption market is that the balance of power moves from enterprises to consumers. As consumers’ demands are diversified according to life quality enhancement, many products are based on main aspects of human experiences, emotions and values. Standardized functions and services of products cannot capture consumers to a great extent any more. A notable aspect is that consumers want products or services that can oner movable experiences. Future products must appeal to emotion, not to reason of consumers. Now consumers purchase styles, experiences and stories contained in products, not products themselves. That is, the key to decision to purchase products is the satisfaction of emotional values. Users'emotions diversified due to the development of industrial designs demand the development of new designs that can represent new trends of users. User-centered values imply the change of people's purchasing trends. This indicates that there is a need to change physical aspects such as price or functions into individual emotions and characters. In addition, studies are required on design concepts to pursue new emotional values, apart from functional type designs. It is time for designers to suggest initiative and rational directions for this changing era.