One of the challenges of product design is how to create a product that people use with affection. With affection, they treat the product with great care, bringing a long life to it as a result. It’s difficult to find an answer to the question “What is affection?” But it can emerge from our mind when we assume that affection is associated with not losing interest. 

My family has a dog. A life with a pet dog adds to cumbersome daily chores such as getting up early in the morning to take him for walks and limits our opportunities for going out. But those burdens are outweighed by the healing he brings us in our daily lives. A much-talked-about robot pet would not bring such enduring pleasure, resulting in an immediate loss of interest.

What’s the difference between the two? Our pet dog has rich facial expressions. He unexpectedly snuggles to our family members and gives a joyful bark. I guess the key to our affection with him lies in such two-way no-verbal communication.

Come to think of it, unique features of motorcycles lie in a set of riding experiences they bring to their riders when they interact with the engines and road surfaces or receive unexpected reactions in controlling them. The relationships between riders and motorcycles are full of non-verbal communication. It’s an important challenge for designers to think about how to develop affection for motorcycles through communication as well as giving forms and colors to them.

Hiroshi Ohta

Product Design Dept.

Operating Officer