Product Personality Matrix - a way to discuss visual appearance

How should we talk about categories like: appearance, character or personality of a particular product when it comes to discussions with customers?

With customers I mean anyone who has no education in design or design related topics. It seems to be difficult to find the right "language" for communication between specialists in design and "the man in the street".

Every person and every object have their own and unique personality. Of course it is a bit simplified to place a human person and an object (product) on the same level.

The real challenge is to define a matrix with a coherent segmentation reflecting common expectations of what characters are.


The Product Personality Matrix is divided into 3 sections. Each section has a second dimension added: quality level (low at the outer edges to high at the centre). Look at the examples to understand the intention of these 3 areas.

The smooth transitions between the single sections are important for positioning an object intuitively within a general area, but not in a precise position.




Survey coffee maker
Survey digital camera