How do you measure and improve the emotional impact of your product or service?

1 Identify your emotional goals

Before you can measure and improve the emotional impact of your product or service, you need to define what emotions you want to elicit and why. What are the emotional benefits and values that your product or service offers to your users? How do you want them to feel when they use it? How do you want them to remember it? You can use frameworks such as the emotional wheel, the emotional design model, or the emotion matrix to map out your emotional goals and align them with your user needs and business objectives.

2 Use qualitative and quantitative methods

To measure the emotional impact of your product or service, you need to use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods that capture both the subjective and objective aspects of emotions. Qualitative methods, such as interviews, surveys, diaries, or user testing, can help you explore the emotional responses, preferences, and motivations of your users. Quantitative methods, such as analytics, biometrics, or psychometrics, can help you measure the emotional outcomes, behaviors, and patterns of your users. You can use tools such as Emotion SDK, Affectiva, or Emolytics to collect and analyze emotional data from various sources.

4 Test and iterate your emotional design

To validate and optimize the emotional impact of your product or service, you need to test and iterate your emotional design with real users. You can use methods such as A/B testing, multivariate testing, or usability testing to compare and evaluate different emotional design alternatives. You can also use tools such as Google Optimize, Optimizely, or UserTesting to conduct and analyze your tests. You should collect and monitor both qualitative and quantitative feedback from your users and use it to refine and improve your emotional design.

5 Learn from cognitive and emotional biases

To avoid and overcome the potential pitfalls and challenges of measuring and improving the emotional impact of your product or service, you need to learn from cognitive and emotional biases that can affect your user research and design process. Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts or errors that can distort our perception, judgment, or decision-making. Emotional biases are emotional influences that can affect our attitude, behavior, or motivation. You can use frameworks such as the cognitive bias codex, the emotional bias wheel, or the bias busters to identify and mitigate the common cognitive and emotional biases that can affect your user research and design.

6 Incorporate emotional intelligence skills

To succeed and excel in measuring and improving the emotional impact of your product or service, you need to incorporate emotional intelligence skills that can help you understand and manage your own and others' emotions. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, express, regulate, and use emotions effectively. You can use models such as the four-branch model, the six-seconds model, or the Goleman model to develop and enhance your emotional intelligence skills. You can also use tools such as the EQ-i 2.0, the MSCEIT, or the EI Appraisal to assess and improve your emotional intelligence.