The role of the emotional design in bridging products and cultures

The actual globalised market suggests that most indus- trial products can be sold everywhere in the world. As a matter of fact, the purchase of an object (or the access to a service) is usually motivated and pushed not only and often not mainly by its intrinsic function capability and quality, but by its meaning (from a metaphoric point of view) and the cultural values it expresses. Meaning and expression of values are mainly given to a product through design. According to recent studies on perception, based on neuroscience, it is possible to examine perceptual formal elements (e.g. shapes, colours, touch, interaction protocol, etc.) and to model both emotional meanings and cultural values. While this kind of modelling is a pioneer activity, still in its first tentative explorations, it seems to provide an unavoidable step toward a more aware a more responsible design activity. The paper addresses to the above topics, presents a pro- vocative model to depict the relationship between struc- ture elements, emotional feelings and the cultural values, and it presents some cases of analysis of products/servi- ces available in the market. The different cultural values within different countries are examined and classified on the base f some social sciences results; emotional feelings and the values expressed by some products’ design are abducted on the base of the hinted metaphors. The paper outlines a relationship between the formal characteristics of products and services, and the success factors overall in the world, and again in provides provocative guidelines to avoid cultural rejection in some countries. Examples and experiences are discussed.