Designing for your five senses

I often find myself wanting to picnic. To lay a mat on the soft grass, savour some sandwiches and nariyal pani while enjoying a game of scrabble. Whenever I need to get away, I picture myself at Priyadarshani Park doing exactly this. Picnicking.

And so I asked myself why I enjoyed this visual so much. The question took me back to a favourite memory from my school days, sports day at PDP. We would be ready to bring glory to our houses on a cold January morning, running around in our shorts and caps to the band playing the march-past as the background score, polishing our white shoes with chalk, requesting Neena Aunty to give us some Glucon D with lemon.

That’s what made me realize that to have an ideal experience it was important to involve all our five senses- Sight, touch, smell, sound and taste. This is called ‘The Five Senses Approach.’ The more senses we include in an experience, the finer it is.

Let us take a look at a graph devised by Jinsop Lee, an industrial designer, who came up with the five senses theory.

Graphical representation of the experience of riding a bike

We see here how even involving three of the five senses results in a better overall experience. So, how can we as designers make our end product finer and more enjoyable? We do this by creating experiential spaces. The focus in such spaces is not solely on aesthetics but the overall experience.

Ways to create an experiential space:

1. Sight

Design is the marriage between functionality and aesthetics. As designers we know how to make a space look good and be user friendly. Our power of visualization makes engaging the sense of sight an easy one for us. But we should also create some truly 'ahh' inspiring moments for the user. Something out of the box that brings a smile to their faces. After all, our senses help induce emotions right?

A great way to include services in design

2. Smell

It is said that real estate brokers often bake a cake in properties before their showings. The smell of freshly baked cakes makes the property seem more homely as people can picture themselves baking with their loved ones. Scent is a very powerful medium. It can transcend you to a space and time and evoke strong emotions.

Some options for introducing scents at home are fresh flowers, scented candles, oil diffusers and even an aromatic meal being prepared in the kitchen!

Hanging Eucalyptus and Lavender in your shower can help destress

3. Touch

Layer the space with those textures! The cold marble floor, soft satin sheets that you can sink in, warm leather sofas, linen curtains letting all that sunlight in, wooden wardrobe shutters. Pairing the right textures will give you the perfect ‘touch’ experience.

Image courtesy: paynesgray.com

4. Sound

Elevators usually have some pipe music playing to make the journey a little less awkward for fellow occupants. It helps avoid that awkward silence. Even hotel lobbies have some music playing to induce a sense of calm.

The same can apply to your home. Put on some Louis Armstrong Jazz, a Mohammed Rafi classic or even an uplifting podcast and it’ll set the mood to your space.

Representational Image

5. Taste

Last but not the least, bring out those candy jars! You can even try placing some dry fruits in a bowl on your center table, having a pot of hot coffee, some infused water in glass water dispensers or even some delectable dark chocolate bites.

Infused water dispenser

If you pay enough attention, you'll realize that you already practice the five senses theory to enhance an experience. Do you enjoy playing some slow reverbed music while sipping on a hot cup of coffee in your soft pyjamas, sitting on a comfortable chair in a balcony overlooking the mighty Sahyadris? Boom, you're doing it right. Now go, be present in the moment.