Navigating the world of product management is like walking a tightrope. You’re always trying to balance what the product needs and how your users feel. One experience that stands out vividly from my journey is designing a notification to keep users from losing their subscriptions. This taught me the importance of emotional engagement and how it can make or break user experiences.

The Challenge: A Friendly Reminder to Renew Subscriptions

We noticed more and more users were letting their subscriptions expire. We needed a way to remind them to renew without becoming pushy. So, we crafted a simple notification meant to nudge them gently, hoping to spark a sense of urgency without causing stress.

The Reaction: A Mix of Relief and Stress

The response was mixed. Many users appreciated the reminder and renewed their subscriptions, thanking us for the heads-up. However, some felt pressured and stressed, which was not our intention. This experience was a wake-up call about the delicate balance required in emotional design.

The Good Emotions: Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphins

Dopamine: The “High Five” Feeling

Dopamine is like getting a high five every time you do something cool. It’s the brain’s way of encouraging us to keep going by celebrating our wins. As product managers, we can create those high-five moments through surprises or rewards that make users feel good about using our product.

Example: Social media platforms excel at this by sending notifications for new likes or comments. This unpredictable reward system keeps users engaged and coming back for more.

Oxytocin: The Love Drug

Oxytocin is all about connection. It’s what we feel when we’re part of a team or when someone trusts us with a secret. Products that help people share, collaborate, and connect can make users feel part of something bigger, strengthening their bond with the product.

Example: Apps that allow users to share milestones or collaborate on projects, like project management tools, foster a sense of community and belonging.

Endorphins: The Runner’s High

Endorphins are our body’s saying, “I got this.” They make us feel capable and resilient, like after finishing a tough workout. By designing challenges or achievements into our products, we can give users that satisfying “I did it!” feeling.

Example: Fitness apps that celebrate milestones with badges or provide encouraging feedback after a workout effectively use endorphins to make the user experience more rewarding and enjoyable.

The Challenge: Managing Cortisol and Adrenaline

But it’s not all high-fives and group hugs. My attempt to prevent users from losing their subscriptions taught me the delicate dance of dealing with stress (cortisol) and the fight-or-flight response (adrenaline).

Cortisol: The Stress Emotion

High cortisol levels can lead to user frustration and product abandonment. To mitigate this, product managers should aim to create a seamless, user-friendly experience that reduces friction and anticipates user needs.

Example: Streamlining the checkout process in e-commerce apps or providing easy-to-find tutorials can reduce stress and improve the overall user experience.

Adrenaline: Fight or Flight

Adrenaline is released in response to high-stress situations and can lead to heightened alertness but also anxiety. Creating conditions that might spike adrenaline in product design should be done cautiously and within contexts that add value to the user experience.

Example: Competitive gaming apps can positively harness adrenaline by creating exciting, time-bound challenges that engage users without overwhelming them. The key is to balance challenges with achievable goals to prevent frustration.

Lessons in Emotional Design

This experience taught me a lot about the power of emotional design. It’s not just about making users happy; it’s about genuinely understanding them — what makes them tick, what worries them, and how they connect with the world. Here are some key takeaways:

Balance is key. Like in cooking, too much of any ingredient can spoil the dish. The same goes for emotional triggers in product design.
Know your audience. What works for one group might stress out another. It’s all about understanding who you’re talking to.
Communication is everything. It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it. The tone, timing, and even the choice of words can make a huge difference.

Infusing emotion into your product is about more than just understanding the science of feelings; it’s about empathy, connection, and creating moments that matter to your users.