ASSOCIATIONS WITH AND RECOGNITION OF PRODUCT METAPHORS

Abstract

The application of metaphors in product design has the potential to enhance proucts' appeal and meaning to enrich product experiences. In response to the trend of metaphorical expressions in product designs becoming increasingly diverse, this study explored people's recognition and classification of many product metaphors to understand how people form meaning based on such metaphors. This paper proposes a framework to assist designers in creating metaphors in product designs. The research methodology entailed a card-sorting activity and interviews. The results of this study classify assorted product metaphors into nine themes and frame these nine themes within three modes - namely the iconic, indexical, and symbolic modes - to explain the process of product metaphor recognition. In addition, interpretation of metaphorical meaning through comparison and connection is discussed herein. The proposed conceptual framework could serve as a reference for designers for the creation of product metaphors to convey their design intentions and enrich consumers' product experiences.