“Oopsie” is not emotional design

Somewhere along the way “emotional design” started to mean emojis, exclamation marks and a brand that talks to you like an old friend. Here is what that looks like at the worst possible moment.

The same moment, twice. In reality, the card was just declined and rent is due today.

The cancel flow is no better. “Wait!! Don’t leave us!! We’ll miss you sooo much.” Two buttons: “Yes, keep me!!” and “No thanks, I don’t like saving money.” The person only wanted to cancel a subscription.

That isn’t emotion. That’s a brand trying to be your buddy without asking.

Whose emotions are we designing?

We design what the product says and how it behaves. We don’t get to decide how the user feels at that moment. Someone whose card was just declined is anxious. “Oopsie” in that moment isn’t warmth. It’s disrespect.

The calm version answers two questions: what happened and what to do next. It also says the thing an anxious person wants to hear most: no money was charged.

Calm is an emotion. Trust is an emotion. Relief is an emotion.

They come from things working, not from emojis.

When jokes are fine

Be friendly when it fits: an empty state, a success screen, a first launch. But earn the right to joke first. A product that works, explains itself and respects people’s money and time gets forgiven a lot. A product that fails and winks at you doesn’t.