Steve Jobs’ philosophy emphasizes the importance of incorporating human emotion into technological advancements. This is the secret to Apple’s success and explains why “emotional engineering,” the fusion of technology and human emotion, is essential for future innovation.
On October 5, 2012, the front pages of the world’s media all told the same story. Apple CEO Steve Jobs had passed away. People around the world paid tribute to him in their own ways, both online and offline, and even Apple’s competitors delayed new product launches to mourn his passing. In South Korea, internet portals and front pages of newspapers covered the news of his passing, and communities sprang up to honor him. Why did the death of an American CEO capture the world’s attention and spark a wave of mourning?
“We believe. That technology alone is not enough. Faster, thinner, lighter is all well and good, but it’s when technology takes a step back that everything becomes more fun and amazing. That’s progress, that’s creating new outcomes. Just like this.”
The above quote is the Korean version of Apple’s iPad2 ad copy. In this 30-second spot, Apple and Steve Jobs’ beliefs are conveyed without fancy words. ‘Technology alone is not enough.’ Steve Jobs always came out with something new and unexpected in his keynote speeches. At some point, the world’s media, the IT industry, and even people who were completely unrelated to the tech world were paying attention, admiring, and raving about his keynotes. He didn’t have the ability to see the future, he had the ability to create the future, and behind that ability was a mind that cared about people.
The human experience was at the center of Apple’s product design. In his 2010 keynote speech announcing the iPad, Steve Jobs emphasized the importance of the user in the product development process, saying, “The product should fit the user, not the other way around.” He also noted that he was “trying to find the intersection of liberal arts & technology,” which suggests that he was trying to bring emotion to technological advancements. In the end, he emphasized that “human beings” should be the center and target of technological innovation, and this has changed not only the IT environment but also various social environments.
Even if you don’t agree with Apple’s wave of change, there’s no denying that humans have played an increasingly important role in the development of science and technology. Until the mid-20th century, scientific and technological advancements were machine-centric, with advances being made simply to make human labor easier. Even in cars and airplanes, researchers focused on developing faster and more powerful engines, with less attention paid to human comfort and emotions. In fact, there was even a concern that technological advances threatened human emotions. Changes in living arrangements, automobiles, and onlineization led to a loss of communication and emotional dryness, and it seemed as if humans and machines were at odds.
However, at some point, the barrier between humans and machines began to crumble. There was a growing effort to include humans in advanced technology. When buying a car, consumers are no longer satisfied with just a good engine, they want to see a design that appeals to their sensibilities, and manufacturers have begun to focus on aesthetics, user safety, and convenience. Console gaming machines, which used to simply run games, are trying to add emotional aspects, such as understanding the user’s movements. Online, social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter that connect humans to humans have become very popular. Apple, which is leading the emotional market, has also emphasized the emotional capabilities of machines by showing a mother and her daughter-in-law, a deployed soldier and his wife, and a deaf person on a video call.
The effort to incorporate human emotions into technological advancements has led to the creation of a new discipline. Numerous books are being published, and new departments and research labs are being established in universities, incorporating the user’s experience in the creation of UI (User Interface) under the name of UX (User eXperience). In addition, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) theory, which studies human-computer interaction, has been established as a discipline, and efforts to improve the way machines and humans communicate are constantly being made.
So why is there a need for “emotional engineering,” an effort to incorporate human emotions into technology? How can emotions in engineering benefit us, and how can they satisfy us? The answer can be found in the purpose of using technology.
A classic example of technological progress is the machine. Whether it’s the invention of the wheel, the steam engine that sparked the Industrial Revolution, or the cars we see around us every day, the purpose of machines is to make our lives easier. Machines do things that humans can’t do, or make it easier for us to do things that are harder for us to do. In the end, machines take over our jobs, so the communication between humans and machines needs to be as close as the relationship between designers and manufacturers. This is where emotional engineering can fill in the gap. The goal of emotional engineering is to make machines that do not have emotions feel emotional by designing them so that users can use them and do what they want in the way they want.
An example of this is Apple’s iPhone, which we discussed earlier. Apple was a late starter as a cell phone manufacturer, decades behind other companies, but the fact that the iPhone now accounts for more than 40% of the world’s cell phone market is a small example of the power of emotional engineering. The iPhone’s touchscreen approach allows for very precise adjustments to screen movements, responsiveness, etc. to make the user feel like they’re doing what they want to do, the way they want to do it, and the way the screen transitions and multi-touch gestures are designed to mimic human cognition to make it easier to use.
In the end, it all boils down to this one sentence. “Technology alone is not enough.” Consumers no longer want technology for its own sake. They see what it can do for them. Just as the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society was characterized by advances in science and technology, the transition to an information society is characterized by advances in emotional engineering. Science and technology and human emotions, which were once thought to be incompatible, are gradually becoming one, and a bridge is being built between machines and humans. In these changing times, engineers need to become emotional engineers to connect humans and science and technology.
