I think the author makes a valid point re: emotional design, but he also seems to confuse "pleasurable" design with his own personal taste (which appears to be

I think the author makes a valid point re: emotional design, but he also seems to confuse "pleasurable" design with his own personal taste (which appears to be bright and bubbly with heavy illustration). I'd say that sites like Reddit (and HN), Basecamp, Craigslist, Teuxdeux have their own visual personality (that their users enjoy) despite lacking animated cartoon birds. Pleasurable is subjective and will vary widely depending on audience. I like the modified Maslow's Hierarchy, but I think he's overemphasizing the top piece in this article. Businesses have enough trouble achieving the bottom three pieces (Functional, Reliable, Usable), and often skip them to aim for Pleasurable. http://carsonified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/maslow-hierarchy-interface-design.png http://carsonified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/maslow-hie...