Using Physiological Arousal as a Marker for Emotional Experiences

 Summer 2010 - Present

As customers, products and services are an experience. Standing in a long line for a coffee may be a part of a frustrating experience. Seeing a picture of your family during a phone call may be a happy one. How do we measure these emotional experiences with products and services?

In this study, the LEGO group and I measured people's electrodermal activity—a marker of an arousing event—to enhance post-interviews about user's experiences: people provided deeper, more informative stories when asked to describe specific arousing moments.

Specifically, I designed and ran an experiment measuring the experiences of 50 different people with a new LEGO product. I conducted open ended interviews and asked people about specific moments when their EDA increased. I generated an internal paper identifying 17 key insights on how the LEGO Groups new product affects people's emotions. I worked with designers, writers, and administrators in realizing this project. In addition, to a report, I taught the LEGO group how to use these tools independently for future projects.