That’s Entertainment – Halo 3: the theory and practice of a research-design partnership

In the September-October issue of interactions, creative director for the Windows Core Innovation Team, August de los Reyes, and I described an approach to designing emotionally engaging products. The approach is based on the James-Lange theory—a pioneering theory of emotion that places physical activity as the source of emotions, rather than a product of emotion. In this approach emotions are a “readout” based on our activity and the context in which it occurs. This has clear implications for what user researchers focus on during the design of products, and speaks toward the relationship between researchers and designers as they work…