Chat with Aarron Walter, Consultant, Author, and Co-founder of Design Better
Designing for Emotion
When I started Product Delight, Aarron Walter was a key source of inspiration. I consider him an expert and a pioneer in advocating for designing emotional tech products. Interviewing him was a must, as his insights deeply align with the core theme of this book.
Aarron Walter, co-host of the Design Better podcast and author of Designing for Emotion, has long championed a human-centered approach to digital product development. His work demonstrates how emotional design can elevate ordinary products into extraordinary experiences.
Drawing from his experience, Aarron highlights a crucial contrast between physical and digital product development. Luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Rolex use emotional connection to drive customer loyalty and business value. These examples remind us that, even in the digital world, human emotions remain central to product success.
Aarron challenges the conventional product development approach, which often prioritizes feature delivery over emotional resonance. He believes truly successful products don’t just meet customer needs, but also anticipate desires users may not even recognize they have.
This gap between functionality and emotional connection is especially evident in the fast-paced software industry, where the pressure to ship quickly and iterate has created a culture of “good enough” products, often at the expense of deeper emotional connections.
A fascinating tension exists between the analytical and emotional aspects of product development. Aarron notes that product managers excel in operations and analytics, but often struggle with the ambiguity of emotional design.
I completely agree with this.
For me, this highlights a critical gap: designers have resources to educate themselves on emotional design and marketers have playbooks for emotional branding. Product managers and leaders, on the other hand, lack structured guidance on building emotionally engaging products. This disconnect sometimes creates misalignment and communication barriers within teams.
Aarron advocates for vision over validation. While customer feedback is valuable, he argues that truly innovative products require looking beyond immediate user requests to uncover deeper emotional needs.
One of the most compelling examples he shares in his book is from TurboTax, a tax preparation software by Intuit. TurboTax recognizes the emotional challenges users face, particularly after losing a loved one. When a user navigates tax-related tasks following such a loss, the software acknowledges their situation with a simple yet powerful message:
“We’re sorry to hear about your loss. You can count on us to help you get your tax return done right.”
This small but thoughtful touch demonstrates that emotional design isn’t just about positive emotions; it’s also about empathy.
Aarron stresses that emotional design isn’t exclusive to consumer products. Even technical or data-heavy tools can benefit from understanding emotional responses. He advocates for cross-functional collaboration, in which product managers, designers, and engineers work together to balance functionality with emotional engagement. While challenging to implement, this approach leads to products that do more than just work well, they evoke emotions.
Through Aarron’s lens, product delight isn’t accidental; it’s the result of intentional choices that prioritize emotional connection alongside functional excellence. His insights serve as a powerful reminder that, in a world increasingly dominated by digital interactions, the products that truly succeed are the products that touch the practical and the emotional needs of their users.
The full interview is available in the Product Delight book. You can sign up Now.
