Mood Regulation as a Design Topic: Interview with Pieter Desmet

Abstract

Pieter Desmet is the founding co-director of the Delft Institute of Positive Design, chair of the TU Delft Department of Human Centered Design, and Director of the Delft Design Labs. After introducing cognitive emotion theory to the field of design research, he established the Design and Emotion Society. Full professor of Design for Experience at TU Delft, Desmet is also co-editor of Design and Emotion Moves (Cambridge Scholars, 2008) and co-author of Positive Design: An Introduction to Design for Subjective Well-Being (IJDesign, 2013). Pieter Desmet, who holds a PhD in the domain of Emotion Psychology, has been recently awarded a five-year personal grant to research about the nuances of human mood in human-product interactions. Besides his academic activities, he also contributes to local community projects, such as a recently developed sensory wellness neighborhood park, and a cultural ‘House of Happiness’ located in Rotterdam. In this interview, Desmet discusses the background to positive design, as well as the practical and ethical challenges that arise from using such an approach. He also refers to his latest research initiative: Design for Mood Regulation. Finally, Desmet explains how he transfers the knowledge he develops to companies.