There was another article recently discussing cuteness and its disarming effects [1]. This author is obviously hyper aware of cuteness in apps. But the average

There was another article recently discussing cuteness and its disarming effects [1]. This author is obviously hyper aware of cuteness in apps. But the average user is not going to give much thought into it. In fact, the cuteness is probably not supposed to convey a thought, only a passing feeling. Too much cuteness is easily revolting (think the PINK barbie aisle in a toy store). But just enough cute helps give an emotion to a brand. Brands of the previous generations were arguably more masculine (Reliable, Tough, Powerful, Extreme, New). But these emotions don't really work for everything. Do I really need Yelp to be Mountain Dew Extreme or Ford Tough? No. I am not sure what I emotion I want Yelp to be, but cute is an easy default. Especially for a generation that is accused of not growing up, aligning a brand with a "child-like" emotion is not a bad idea. We should be aware of it though. The "NEW" obsession of the last 50 years has resulted in a massively wasteful consumer culture. Arguably companies want to sell new stuff, so they sell the New version. But the obsession with the New version has probably had some amount of feedback forcing companies to constant produce upgrades. [1] Related article and discussion https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/19/kumamon-the-new-science-of-cute https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/19/kumamon-the-ne... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12127650 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12127650