Around the early 1960s Kodak had a revolutionary slide projector.

What made it different? It had a wheel.

The small (round) revolution

The Kodak engineers were proud as punch of their new feat of engineering and really wanted to push this technological innovation on its own merits.

They turned to ad man Don Draper, the creative genius with the cloudy past, to pitch on how to best package and promote their new gizmo.

It was one of the most moving scenes of television I’ve seen in a long time.

Nerdy Kodak guy 1:  “Have you figured out how to work the wheel into it?”

Nerdy Kodak guy 2:  “We know it’s hard because wheels aren’t really seen as exciting technology even though they are the ‘original’”.

Nostalgia versus Novelty

Don Draper saw beyond the gadgetry. He looked past the technology itself and instead looked a the story technology could tell.

“Well, technology is a glittering lure but there is the rare occasion when the public can be engaged on a level beyond flash, if they have a sentimental bond with the product”

Don went on to talk about “a deeper bond with the product. Nostalgia. It’s delicate, but potent. Nostalgia means a pain from an old wound. A twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone”.

“This device isn’t a spaceship, it’s a time machine, it’s not called the wheel, it’s called the carousel and it lets us travel the way a child travels, round and round and back home again to a place we know we are loved”.

The Kodak guys were speechless.

Does that mean design old?

Perhaps. The Kodak guys knew that if their carousel could connect to customers in an emotional way, the way in which Don Draper had just connected with them, their product would be a resounding success.

Isn’t it time to start thinking about how to bring emotion into your designs?