Ein Ansatz zur Reduktion produktinduzierter Nutzerstigmatisierung durch Förderung einer gleichermaßen gebrauchstauglichen wie emotionalen Produktgestalt

Description

Product-related user stigma describes a phenomenon where people are treated badly by third parties because of product use. This may lead to a reduced acceptance of product usage or even to a product’s rejection. Assistive, protective and medical devices are particularly stigma-sensitive. They often focus on the product's usability whereas emotional product design is neglected. This unintentionally puts the limitations of the product users in the spotlight.

Therefore, an approach to reduce product-related user stigma by enhancing an equally usable and emotionally appealing product design is presented. In this context, the presented thesis identifies relevant stigma coping strategies for considering usability and emotional product design and examines both aspects in the context of stigma-sensitive users. Subsequently, the essential findings are transferred into a modular framework for the methodical support of product development accompanying the development process. Applying the approach may has a positive effect on the product appearance and product semantics, supports the identification of the users with the product and ensures good utility. The new findings and developed methods thus pave the way for a more stigma-free product design in the future.