6.8 Conclusion
This chapter introduces smell and taste as senses that play a part in design for user experiences. Today smell and taste are not commonly considered sensory elements of design, but they are clearly a part of our interactions and perceptions of products and places. They contribute to the multisensory aesthetics that trigger our deepest emotional responses to products. The concepts presented in this chapter provide insights into how we experience smell and taste and how this knowledge can be applied in design. Sometimes our experiences may become richer, through intentional smells that connect us with our memories. Other times they may become better, through product designs that encourage behaviour changes around smell and taste. The principles and insights presented in this chapter contribute to understanding the role of design for smell and taste.
Key Takeaways
The key takeaways from this chapter include:
- Understanding how the body interprets smell and taste signals into messages of pleasure or danger.
- Knowledge about the multimodal aspects of smell and taste that combine to enhance our overall experiences and memories.
- Awareness of the power of smell receptors to evoke emotional, cultural, and personal associations.
- Information about categorizing smell for describing the characteristics of smells.
- Understanding of the historical usefulness of scent models such as fragrance wheels for describing smells.
- Awareness of the value of smell and taste as a marketing tool for attracting consumers.
- Exposure to the principles of olfactory design and scent application.
- Insights into the concept of layering of smell and taste characteristics to be perceived at different times and for different lengths of time.
- Introduction to activities for perceiving and describing smellscapes and scentscapes.
- Knowledge about applications for product design that leverage taste and can be associated with food.
Chapter 6: Design for Smell and Taste Experiences
Reflection Time!
Instructions
- Type your reflections for the 3Ts below: Thoughts, Tips, and Tools.
- To download your reflections as a document, click EXPORT to open a summary preview, then click the export icon on the top right of the window.
- Use your reflections to recall the key ideas later and to apply them in future situations.
Supplementary Activities for this Chapter
The Sense-It! Activities are categorized according to the Catalyze, Learn, and Apply (CLA) model defining the intended learning outcomes of the different categories of activities. This learning model is described in more depth on page 8 of the booklet Sense-It! In Action: Facilitator’s Guide, along with descriptions of the Sense-It! Product Cards and Sense-It! Tiles. These supplementary resources can be downloaded here.
An overview of each of the Sense-It! Activities and instructions for facilitating them can be found on pages 10-19 of the Facilitators’ Guide. The activities designed to support this chapter can be found starting on page 78 of the Sense-It! Activities booklet.
The next chapter acknowledges that we rarely experience products through one sensory channel. It builds on the multisensory theme addressed in this chapter and introduces principles of multisensory design and kinetics that tie all the senses together. It provides insight into practical approaches for integrating multisensory layers into design.
Key Words: Smell, Taste, Emotional qualities of smell and taste, Characteristics of smells and tastes, Taxonomy of smells, Qualities of smells and tastes, Olfactory design principles, Smellscapes, Food design
