Client confidentiality prevents sharing specific artifacts and impact metrics, but the following overview provides a representative look at my process and the results achieved. Please reach out for a verbal walk-through if you’d like to learn more.
The Challenge
While UX metrics commonly focus on usability, efficiency, and functionality, a product’s emotional appeal (affinity) often goes unmeasured or is reduced to anecdotal evidence. A seasoned design team in the computer hardware and software industry sought to quantify this product affinity across a broad portfolio of offerings, as well as segments of users.
The client’s goal was to develop a scalable, reliable, and benchmarkable framework that could assess users’ emotional connections with products, integrate with existing CX metrics, and offer a strategic lens on product differentiation across a variety of product types.
Approach
Working closely with the client to co-create a research-driven affinity measurement framework. The work was carried out in three distinct phases:
Discover Phase
Align the vision and define measurable dimensions of affinity
- Conducted internal workshops to gather perspectives on affinity-related behaviors and attitudes, as well as an understanding of current measures (and those previously tested)
- Mapped responses to measurable UX dimensions
- Identified relevant industry standards and existing metrics that could inform framework development
Explore Phase
Develop and test the proposed UX and affinity measures with users
- Designed a survey combining validated UX metrics tailored to identified dimensions
- Facilitated scenario-based interviews to contextualize product experiences
- Asked participants to rank the importance of factors when evaluating a product’s UX
Analyze Phase
Identify the most impactful metrics and streamline the framework
- Analyzed survey ratings, factor rankings, and qualitative feedback
- Developed a novel weighting system to reflect each metric’s influence on affinity perception
- Refined the framework into a lean, scalable structure focused on what truly drives product connection
Output
- A validated Affinity Framework with measurable UX dimensions and scoring logic
- A weighting model to prioritize factors most predictive of emotional connection
- Strategic guidance on survey design, user recruitment, and measurement administration for implementing at scale
- Mock-ups for an Affinity Dashboard to support internal storytelling and executive alignment
Impact
The research overturned assumptions about emotional appeal. While aesthetic and emotional design elements are commonly associated with affinity, analysis showed that the core UX principles of familiarity, usability, and comfort are stronger predictors of emotional engagement.
Key outcomes included:
- A repeatable, quantitative approach for measuring affinity
- A benchmarking tool to compare products internally and against competitors
- A scalable system compatible with the client’s existing CX infrastructure
- A path forward for future validation studies across additional user segments
This project highlighted the complexity of measuring something as intangible as emotional connection, along with the value of applying structured and evidence-based thinking to do so. The collaborative approach with the client delivered a framework that is both practical for their organization, while being grounded in real user perceptions.
In a market saturated with functionally similar offerings, emotional engagement can be the differentiator. But to optimize for it, one must first be able to measure it.
Photo by Ron Lach : https://www.pexels.com/photo/back-view-of-a-teen-boy-with-a-digital-background-9783353/