I walked into a small shop and felt calm straight away. It took me a while to work out why, and a little longer to work out why I left with nothing.
What worked
Natural textures. Raw wood, rocks, hay, plants and water. Everything felt unhurried.
A gentle scent. Peaceful, and never overpowering.
Slow music. Light, instrumental, quiet enough to fade into the background.
Together they made me want to take a breath, pause and look closely at the objects. That matters for any shop selling intricate, detailed work. People need to slow down before they can notice the craft.
The shelves helped too. They were structured, symmetric and geometric, which kept the focus on the products.
What didn't
The story and the shelves disagreed. The background was raw. The products were finished and refined. Instead of feeling like curated, special objects, they felt a little out of place.
There was no hero. No focal point, no product that asked to be picked up first. At a glance, everything looked more or less the same.
I couldn't tell what they did. I left without knowing what the shop specialised in, or why I should come back.
The products blended into their surroundings so well that they stopped shining.
The lesson
A calm, inviting space in the middle of a busy street is a great strategy. But atmosphere is only the invitation. Once people are inside, the products have to carry the story forward.
The same is true on a screen. A beautiful, quiet interface gets people to slow down. Then it needs a clear hero, a clear point of view, and products that look like they belong to the story you just told.
Written by Aarti Kava, design leader in Shanghai. More from the journal →