Let's giggle!: design principles for humorous products

Humor and its relationship to user experience have received limited prior attention in design and HCI. In this paper, we present a framework of design principles that could be used to design humorous products. First, we identified three aspects of experience with humorous products by collecting various amusing products and analyzing them with designers. Next, we conducted a workshop with professional comedians and designers to understand methods for creating humorous products. Through this process, we elicited nine principles for making products humorous: visualization of taboo, bizarre consequence, destructive play, zoomorphism, self-depreciation, abused product, shape incongruity, unconventional use, and unexpected function. To understand how the principles are used in the conceptual design phase, we conducted design sessions for a water fountain using a software application to explain the principles. The results indicate that some principles were more actively used. This work contributes to knowledge on designing products and interaction that deliver more positive feelings to users.

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