The study is an exploration of the use of surprising elements in design and the effect that surprises can have on emotional attachment to the object and the memory of the experience.

The written work is divided into three main sections. The first section defines the context of the project. Surprise is defined from a psychological point of view and its applications are explored; in particular its applications to objects in creating memorable experiences and emotional attachment. To this purpose a case study of what is expected from chairs is carried out.

The second section explores the design world, analysing contemporary surprising design by dividing it into three categories, based on the type of surprise.
Seeing is Believing?, a purely visual surprise based on first impression.
Using is Believing, based on the incongruity between what an object looks like and how it functions or feels.
What is Happening? containing objects that do not behave as expected, or change their behaviour over time.
The three categories are defined and conclusions about the best applications are drawn.

The third section describes the design aspect of the project; this starts by describing a methodology for creating designs and then goes on to describe the design process and the designs themselves. The final section will describe the user testing and the evaluation, which will inform the conclusions.

for a full version email me