What it was like to write Designing for Emotion, second edition

When I started writing the second edition of Designing for Emotion in April of 2019 I thought it would be simple. I thought I’d update the examples, make some corrections, and refine things a bit. A year later I realized how wrong I was. 

My friend Erika Hall who was also working on a second edition of her book Just Enough Research (it’s great, you should read it), DMed me just as I was arriving at the realization that this book project was a heavier lift than anticipated. 

“Are you finding that doing a second edition weirdly does not take a fraction of the time, but about the same amount of time?”

—Erika Hall, author of Just Enough Research, second edition

Um, yeah. Writing this new edition felt like writing a brand new book. I took a stab at updating all of the examples in the first edition, but my editor and I quickly realized that, like a giant Jenga puzzle, when you move a couple of pieces in a book, the whole thing collapses upon itself.

After a few months of research and rewriting, I found myself starting again. It was a dark time for me.

The tunnel

Writing a book is like driving through a very long tunnel. Once you enter, it’s hard to see where you are. You might emerge into the light quickly, or you could find yourself plodding forward for a long, long time. 

In total, it took me close to a year to write this second edition, which is about how long it took to write the first edition. On nights and weekends, I researched, I wrote, and I addressed the edits from my editorial partner, Sally Kerrigan. 

By February of 2020, we had wrapped up all significant edits, and by April I emerged out of the tunnel and into the light with a completed book. 

New times, new perspectives

Like many designers, I had an optimistic view of the web back in 2011 when the first edition of this book was published. “Design for delight” was the mantra of those times when we shared an optimistic view of how the web and technology would bring us together. 

Today I see that the technology that brings us together also has the power to tear us apart, and if we’re not careful, we can find ourselves sharing responsibility for the destruction. 

I couldn’t simply update the examples in the first edition because the world has changed so much. I had to begin again to help readers see that designing for delight falls woefully short in feeding the needs of the human spirit. 

This new edition is about expanding our view of what it means to design for emotion—all emotions. 

As I wrapped up writing we entered intense times that have triggered so many emotions in us, fluctuating from fear and uncertainty to joy and hope. Recognizing that your customers bring those emotions with them when they use your products is essential to deciding what you design, how you design, and who you design for. 

I believe that designing for all emotions is the essential next step in the evolution of our design process.

What I’ve learned about writing

I once heard Annie Lennox in an interview described singing as painful. She talked about seeing Aretha Franklin sing with a power and grace that was at her disposal at all times. But Lennox has to work at singing. She has to warm up and find her way to the notes she seeks. 

That’s how I feel about writing. It takes me a long time to find the words, and the process is painful. By the end of this book it was literally painful as I’d contracted shingles, a painful viral infection of the nervous system triggered by stress. But in the end it was worth it. 

It’s worth investing long nights and weekends. It’s worth being vulnerable in front of editors who knowingly send one back to the drawing board for another go. It was worth pressing forward through sickness. 

The feeling of finding one's voice is like nothing else. 

I hope you’ll check out the new edition of my book Designing for Emotion from A Book Apart available in ebook and paperback formats today.