Before we start evaluating and categorizing products in terms of 3 different levels of processing emotions, how much do we understand about emotions? And all these talks about emotion and affection, do they differ?

Taken from one of Don Norman’s article, “Emotion is the conscious experience of affect, complete with attribution of its cause and identification of its object. Affect is the general term for the judgmental system, whether conscious or subconscious.” An example of emotion, if you are angry with someone or about something there is a certain reason and there is an object tied with it. And when you feel uneasy or weird about something or in any experiences that might lead to an emotion without knowing why, is affective. All these lays in the studies of cognitive psychology.
Taken from an article form About.com: “Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. The core focus of cognitive psychology is on how people acquire, process, and store information.”

Don Norman also wrote that “…cognition and affect influence one another: some emotions and affective states are driven by cognition, while cognition often impacts affect.” We here focus on emotions because it does affect the decision making process. Products that make you feel good are easier to deal with and produce ‘better’ results. Using 3 levels of processing (Visceral, Behavioral, Reflective) that give rise to human emotion attributes, 3 different products were chosen.

Philips|Swarovski Active Crystal Flash Drive FM01SW60/00 (Visceral)

Visceral

Never mind what is the name of this beautiful shinny piece of jewelery, not only it is decorated with Swarovski silver shade crystals, it is actually a flash drive! It is such a cute piece of jewelery with a design of padlock, it will be a hit with the ladies. This new creation by Philips and Swarovski intend to bring technology and jewelery into new heights. They launch several crystallized flash drives in their flash drive series, name Active Crystals. One of them is actually a heart-shaped pendant flash drive! Flash drives have been sprouting everywhere in different forms but I think this will take wearable technology to another level. Technology was initially associated with men, but with more fancy and beautiful designs of flash drives, this is starting to change. Philips took a strategic move and collaborate with Swarovski crystals to introduce fashionable and stylish flash drives targeted to high end women.

Behavioral

First look at it, one will wonder where is the USB head. A press at the side of the arch shape stainless steel will reveal the USB head. Pretty neat, but the USB head is not that long, and it has a fat base. Would it have difficulty slotting it in a port that has limited width? Imagine slotting it into a Dell’s Desktop, like those in NUS. The head might be too short to have a good connectivity. Also it might not even slot in well with those notebook thinner than this flash drive, try plugging into a MacBook Air. With a reasonable storage power of 1GB, transfer rate of this drive is pretty slow. It reads max 15MB/s; writes max 3MB/s. That is pretty slow compared to other flash drives with similar storage space. It also has password feature that protects data. However the cost that comes with it is definitely going to be higher than those with similar specifications.

Reflective

It certainly turn heads when near a PC or notebook. With its stainless steel body decorated with Swarovski crystals it is truly at league of its own. It will send a ‘wow’ factor to others. Imagine taking out your pendant and plugging it in a notebook during a presentation, it made you feel good so that you can perform better in your presentation too. It looks classy and refine yet sophisticated because it function as a flash drive. Enough said.

(sources: http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/sg/consumer/cc/_productid_FM01SW60_00_SG_CONSUMER/USB-Memory-Key+FM01SW60-00)

Corsair Flash Padlock USB 2.0 Drives. (Behavioral)

Visceral

Rectangular shaped looks dull and boring much like any other flash drives. With numbers on the surface one might wonder what is this device, a remote control that lock a car? Buttons on the surface let one wonder how is it possible pressing a number since 2 numbers are displayed on each buttons.

Behavioral

Let’s look at the features of this highly secured flash drive.

Features
• Auto-Locking – Self locking after removal from computer
• Customizable PIN – Set your own easy to remember PIN
• Easy to Use – Direct keypad access and indicator lights make
locking/unlocking simple
• Plug and Play – Hardware based security works without
installing or running software
• Platform independent – Works on Windows, MAC and Linux
platforms without the use of software

So how does it work, This specialized security processor enables or disables operation of the Flash Padlock drive. When the drive is “locked” or disabled, it will be completely invisible to the system that it is plugged into. When the combination is successfully entered, the drive is activated, and operates as a normal USB flash drive. This operation continues until the drive is unplugged from the system, whereupon the Flash Padlock will
automatically “lock” itself after 15 seconds of being disconnected. The combination itself is programmable, and can be entered regardless of whether the drive is plugged into the computer. Green and red LEDs are used to indicate successful entry of the combination. Buttons are huge so that it is easy to press.

It has storage capacity of either 2GB or 4GB drives to choose from. Transfer rate are pretty decent too according to test run by www.hothardware.com.

Reflective

It will turn heads from curious neighbours or friends. But they may be turning for a different reason compared to Philips Swarovski flash drive. They too might wonder what kind of new device is this, especially with buttons on the surface. Many think that it resembles that of a remote.

(sources: http://www.corsair.com/products/padlock.aspx,
http://www.corsair.com/_datasheets/CMFUSBPADLOCK-4GB.pdf )

Lexar JumpDrive® Lightning (Reflective)

Visceral

Although it takes the usual shape of a flash drive, it is made of stainless steel casing and even does engraving on this piece. It does have a hook at the back for lanyard too. Design is simple and sleek.

Behavioral

Features:

- Lightning Fast Speed, 4GB capable of minimum sustained speeds of 30MB/s read and 21MB/s write, ideal for quickly transferring vast amounts of data.

- Includes PowerToGo Portable Applications Software; install and run most standard Windows applications right from the drive, and also allows you to carry personalized settings and favorites with you wherever you go.

- Advanced Security to Protect Your Data; create multiple password protected areas called Encrypted Vaults that automatically encrypt your data with on-the-fly 256-bit AES encryption, while the File Shredder feature securely and thoroughly deletes files so that they can’t be recovered, giving you peace of mind that your data is secure.

- Option of 1Gb, 2GB or 4GB drives.

Reflective

Beside being sleek and simple, it does portray a certain look on you when you whip it out. It brings the professionalism in you. Stainless steel design and the ability to engrave on it provides individuality for all. The person carrying does not only care about how well it performs but it must look good too. Lexar being one of the fastest flash drives out there, there is certain prestige when carrying it too. Moreover with a limited lifetime warranty, it says so much about the quality of Lexar’s product.

(sources: http://www.lexar.com/jumpdrive/lightning.html)

Some thoughts

Sometimes it is not that easy to differentiate a product between visceral and reflective. A product might fall into these 2 categories. I had difficulties between the Philips Swarovski flash drive and the Lexar flash drive. Philips Swarovski looks really nice and beautiful to have it, most girls like anything that sparkles! But at the same time it might be reflective as well as it is Swarovski crystals, most will associate the brand with a certain class, a refine taste. But I categorize it as a visceral product because it basic function is a USB flash drive and not a jewelery. Meaning the reflective part comes mostly form the crystals itself, which is not directly influence in the core function of this product. Whereas the Lexar flash drive is a refelctive product because of the reverse reason given for Philips Swarovski. Lexar is considered the brand for flash drives. It has fast transfer rate, the design is simple and sleek, and more importantly as i mentioned, it looks professional. Thus base upon the base function of the product I differentiated them in this way. This is in my own opinion, if nothing seems to make sense, please do let me know!