The secret sauce to our success
Psycho-Aesthetics®
Our Advanced Human-Centered Design & Development Methodology.
We use Psycho-Aesthetics®
to create solutions for our clients that...
Elevate the
Brand
Are relevant to the
Market
Create Emotional
Connection
The cornerstone of Psycho-Aesthetics®
The P/A Map
P/A maps are a scalable design-strategy framework. They are a center point to Psycho-Aesthetics®, providing a consistent lens to see the world through.
By adopting P/A maps, we as designers develop relevance and understanding of how people see the world, resulting in our ability to empathize with them and their perceptions. Additionally, we find that using P/A maps triggers recall at a higher level than occurs otherwise. Viewing visuals triggers recall of process and insights that allow communication with higher levels of depth, clarity, and conviction.
The maps become a new shared language between us and our stakeholders. It is used to map personas, brands, and offerings against the consumer’s Hierarchy of Needs, Desires, and Aspirations on one hand and levels of interactivity on the other. Once these entities are mapped, opportunity zones (White Space / Blue Ocean) can be identified, and design directions can be designed and communicated.
The Hero’s Journey
The path to empowering consumers depends on you and your ability to guide them past hesitation and doubt and into a rich, inviting series of experiences that leave them feeling good about themselves. To achieve this, Psycho-Aesthetics® employs our interpretation of the Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell.
The Hero's Journey
The path to empowering consumers depends on you and your ability to guide them past hesitation and doubt and into a rich, inviting series of experiences that leave them feeling good about themselves. To achieve this, Psycho-Aesthetics® employs our interpretation of the Hero’s Journey by Joseph Campbell.
The Hero’s Journey is used to frame the process by which consumers bond with the products and experiences they seek out in the marketplace.
The P/A Map
P/A maps are a scalable design-strategy framework. They are a center point to Psycho-Aesthetics®, providing a consistent lens to see the world through.
By adopting P/A maps, we as designers develop relevance and understanding of how people see the world, resulting in our ability to empathize with them and their perceptions. Additionally, we find that using P/A maps triggers recall at a higher level than occurs otherwise. Viewing visuals triggers recall of process and insights that allow communication with higher levels of depth, clarity, and conviction.
The maps become a new shared language between us and our stakeholders. It is used to map personas, brands, and offerings against the consumer’s Hierarchy of Needs, Desires, and Aspirations on one hand and levels of interactivity on the other. Once these entities are mapped, opportunity zones (White Space / Blue Ocean) can be identified, and design directions can be designed and communicated.
How Does RKS Use P/A Mapping?
An essential tool that allows us to create human-centered design
Psycho-Aesthetics® process
that guides our design to success.
The birth of a real-world viral product
created by leveraging Psycho-Aesthetics®
How is Psycho-Aesthetics® created
by Ravi Sawhney.
The roots of Psycho-Aesthetics®
The roots of Psycho-Aesthetics® (P/A) come from a uniquely pivotal time in which its founder Ravi Sawhney worked with dozens of cognitive and industrial psychologists developing the first touch screen interface at Xerox PARC, the birthplace of many of today’s technologies, including the Macintosh. During this challenging time, he found that several facts created barriers to its success:
1
People were not yet familiar with computers
2
People related to CRT screens as TVs and thereby knew only never to put their finger prints on the screen
3
They knew to stand back far enough to avoid radiation. A button on the screen saying “touch to start” was met with great resistance, in part due to the presentation of the technology
Success was finally attained after months of exploration
Imagine a foot-deep display with a 5-inch by 7-inch display buried inches inside a dark bezel. It was anything but intuitive. Success was finally attained after months of exploration, playing with various designs on screen, and working to reduce the perception of depth and darkness, all of which eventually allowed users who were new to the concept to immediately accept and interact with it. That was 1978.
