Exploring the Role of Shame in Design Strategies

Abstract

Shame is an emotion most of us are well familiar with and has taken an increasing role in public discourse in the last couple of years. While design literature has seen a strong tradition for evoking positive emotions, shame seems to be somewhat neglected. As a step towards a more practical understanding of shame in design, this article combines design literature with studies from other disciplines in an attempt to give an overview of designers' current notion of shame, and discuss if and how this notion could be further explored into concepts and tools that may benefit future designers.