Attitude

If a person’s attitude about a product, service, or system is positive, they will be more likely to use it. If their attitude about an activity like dancing in public is negative, they will likely refuse to dance in public even if others are dancing. When designers create outcomes, they make decisions that affect how those objects function as well as their styling. A person is more likely to use an object that is useful, usable, and desirable than one that is not (Sanders, 1992). Attitude influences behavior. People’s attitudes can change based on emotional and physical factors. The design of an object can affect people’s attitudes about it and what it can do.

Learning people’s attitudes about activities and or design outcomes can suggest how likely they will be to use a product, service, or system. A wide range of factors influences attitudes.

Questions to Ask

• Based on their past experience, how does this person feel about the activity?
• Should the design focus on changing attitudes or changing the design to align with prevailing attitudes?
• Where are these attitudes coming from?

Look For

• When people refuse to do something
• Fans of things—people who wear a brand logo or embrace an activity as part of the core of their personal identity