Design doesn’t just solve problems—it responds to why people care about those problems in the first place. Behind every click, swipe, or scroll lies a complex web of motivations. These can be grouped into three broad categories: functional, emotional, and social needs.

1. Functional Needs

These are the most visible and obvious needs. They are about what the system helps the reader do. They answer questions like:

• Can I complete this task?
• Is the information accurate and accessible?
• Does this feature do what I expect?

Examples:

• Booking a ticket
• Uploading a document
• Tracking a delivery
• Calculating a bill

These needs are measurable. You can test whether the task was completed or not, whether it was fast or slow, efficient or clumsy. But functional success isn’t enough.

2. Emotional Needs

These are how the reader feels while using the system. Emotional needs shape satisfaction, memory, and loyalty. They affect trust, confidence, frustration, delight, and anxiety. They answer:

• Does this feel safe, easy, or overwhelming?
• Do I feel in control or lost?
• Does this experience make me feel smart—or stupid?

Examples:

• “I want to feel confident submitting this form.”
• “I want to know I won’t lose my work.”
• “I want to enjoy using this—just a little.”

3. Social Needs

Social needs are a different beast as compared to Functional or Emotional needs. These involve how people interact with others through or around the system. But Social needs are not just about how people connect, but how they navigate shared spaces, responsibilities, and roles through a system. They are often subtle, but essential for meaningful, human-centered interaction design. These needs play out through:

1. Participation

Participation is about access, invitation, and the feeling of being part of something. And when thinking about participation, we need to consider:

• Who is allowed to act?
• Are actions visible and acknowledged?
• Are there barriers (technical, social, cognitive) that stop someone from participating?

Examples:

• Sandbox editing, moderation tools, revision history — make large-scale participation viable.
• Forking, version control, comments — help mediate collaborative participation with accountability.

2. Coordination

Coordination ensures multiple people can act in sync or without conflict. It is the rhythm of shared use. Here, we need to consider:

• Timing: who acts when?
• Visibility: who sees what others are doing?
• Friction: does the system help reduce clashes?

Examples:

• A calendar app that avoids double-booking by showing everyone’s availability.
• Real-time collaborative editing where you can see others’ cursors and changes.
• Ticket-booking for events with seat selection, preventing overlap in choices.

3. Etiquette

Etiquette refers to the social norms and sensitivities built into a system. It may seem minor, but it’s often the difference between a smooth or jarring experience. Here, we need to consider:

• What tone does the system enable or restrict?
• Does it account for embarrassment, interruptions, or second thoughts?
• Are there invisible social scripts that the interface should respect?

Examples:

• A “typing…” indicator in chat apps signals someone’s engagement.
• Delayed message sends (like Gmail’s “Undo Send”) allow second thoughts.
• Notifications that let you “react” instead of reply—lowering the pressure to respond with words.

4. Belonging

Belonging is the emotional sense of comfort, identity, and safety in shared use. It’s built through representation, flexibility, and intentional inclusivity. Here, we need to consider:

• Does it assume a “default” user?
• Does it reinforce or challenge exclusionary norms?

Examples:

• Onboarding flows that let users pick roles or interests that match their identity.
• Interfaces that support multiple languages or cultural formats (e.g., date formats, name conventions).

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