Chapter 2
Sensorial
Engage as many senses as possible
We connect with the world around us through our senses, and
describe the process of understanding something new as
“making sense of it.” The pervasiveness of sensing makes it
easy to take for granted, as we integrate our five common
senses of touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste without
conscious thought or effort. Similarly, as designers create
objects and interactions, it can be easy for them to overlook the
richness of human sensorial capabilities. By primarily
considering the unavoidable senses of sight and touch, many
designers seem to treat humans as little more than eyeballs and
fingers.
Industrial Designers, because of the physicality of their work,
have historically been able to engage a broader range of senses
than Interaction Designers. We obviously see and touch objects,
but we also hear something when we place an object on a
surface, or even smell certain materials when we hold them
closely. We generally don’t eat our objects, but increasingly
designers are collaborating with chefs and food companies to
support the smell and taste of our eating experiences.
Beyond the traditional five senses, we perceive our presence in
the physical world through non-traditional and combinatorial
senses as well. We have a sense of balance that helps us walk
and carry objects, a sense of pain that keeps us from over
damaging our body, and a sense of temperature that is finely
tuned to our human tolerances. Our kinesthetic sense tells us the
position of our body parts relative to each other, and helps us
detect weight and tension when we grasp and hold an object.