Developing 14 animated characters for non-verbal self-report of categorical emotions

an article by Gaël Laurans and Pieter M.A. Desmet (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) published in Journal of Design Research Volume 15 Number 3/4 (2018)

Abstract

Graphical self-report tools are increasingly used to collect data on users’ emotional responses to products, yet most of these tools have only undergone minimal validation.

A systematic set of animations was developed to allow participants in design research and other fields to report their feelings without relying on the nuances of a particular language’s affective lexicon. The animations were revised based on eight studies across four countries (total N = 826).

The set includes well-recognised animations representing desire/love, satisfaction/approval, pride/self-esteem, hope/optimism, interest/curiosity, surprise/excitement, disgust/aversion, embarrassment/shyness, fear/shock and boredom/dullness.

Two other emotions (joy/happiness and contempt/disrespect) were recognised by about half of the participants in the final study.

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