Developing 14 animated characters for non-verbal self-report of categorical emotions

Graphical self-report tools are increasingly used to collect data
on users’ emotional responses to products, yet most of these tools have
only undergone minimal validation. A systematic set of animations was
developed to allow participants in design research and other fields to report
their feelings without relying on the nuances of a particular language’s
affective lexicon. The animations were revised based on eight studies
across four countries (total N = 826). The set includes well-recognised
animations representing desire/love, satisfaction/approval, pride/self-esteem,
hope/optimism, interest/curiosity, surprise/excitement, disgust/aversion,
embarrassment/shyness, fear/ shock and boredom/dullness. Two other emotions
(joy/happiness and contempt/disrespect) were recognised by about half of the
participants in the final study.