Understanding customer sensitivity is important in product development and product appeal. Whether or not the product matches the customer’s emotional value will influence the product purchase behavior. Sensitivity is not something that can be expressed in words, but words are often used to convey information. The same is true when communicating with foreigners, in which case translated words are used. However, it is assumed that the vocabulary of sensitive words differs between Japanese and foreign languages. In this paper, we would like to introduce the use of color as a means of visualizing the differences in vocabulary in a sensitive way.

As user needs become more diverse, the methodology of creating affective value, which models kansei values (e.g., users’ preferences and satisfaction) and applies them to product design, is attracting attention. Kansei value creation research uses psychological experiments, statistical analysis, AI technology, and other techniques to index kansei, construct kansei (psycho)-physics models, and incorporate individual differences and user types into the models. Applying this model makes it possible to provide personalized products and services. This review introduces methods of kansei value creation and examples of their application to color material design.

In Yamauchi Laboratory at Yamagata University, most research has been conducted based on psychophysical approaches. In this article, some of the research on color vision and color reproduction are introduced. First, research to explore and quantitatively express individual differences in color vision is described: a technique developed to measure color matching functions, and the physiological factors, such as the macular pigment density and the cone ratio, that may mediate differences. Second, research about the evaluation method of color consistency using “trendlines” is described.

Color plays a significant role in the kansei/affective value of “kawaii.” In this article, I first introduce how I started our research into “kawaii” engineering, and then introduce parts of our research into “kawaii colors”: “an experiment on kawaii colors of objects using virtual environments” and “an experiment on kansei evaluation of the textures of resin surfaces.”