Happiness is easy to recognize but difficult to create. It's emotional, personal, and often unexpected. The best products, brands and experiences deliver superior consistency. This version explores the joy of being a craft. From the psychology behind it, to the systems that make it possible, to the small human touches that make it memorable.
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in his book emotion theoryPsychologist Robert Plutchik describes non-core emotions as a combination of two core emotions. He pointed out that joy is the result of happiness and surprise. When a product meets both of these needs, it creates an emotional response that users remember, talk about, and reward.
exist The theory behind happinessNesrine Changuel brings this philosophy to product management. She explains how to design for delight by celebrating user wins, introducing thoughtful surprises, aligning joy with user goals, and resisting gimmicks that serve no real purpose. The result is a product that feels useful and energizing.
With a PhD in physics and an impressive track record on leading products at Google, Spotify and Microsoft, Nesrine Changuel views customer satisfaction as a product discipline; a repeatable, measurable input into retention, engagement and brand value.
On Lenny's podcast, Nesrine shares a clear framework Bring pleasure to the product. Some key points:
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Joy is more than just confetti. This is when functional and emotional needs are met simultaneously. Weekly Discovery works because it finds you new music (functional) while making you feel good (emotional).
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Her test is divided into three parts: Eliminate friction, anticipate needs, and exceed expectations. Uber's instant refunds reduce friction, while Revolut's eSIM takes the pain out of travel.
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50-40-10 rule. Allocate 50% to pure functionality (low pleasure), 40% to mixed functionality + emotional functionality (deep pleasure), and 10% to purely emotional features (surface pleasure).
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The surprise fades away. Continuously improve functionality to maintain this enjoyment over time.
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Pleasure boosts team morale. When teams are motivated, they deliver faster and better. Features that satisfy users also make developers proud.
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Emotional needs are often nameless. The functional goal is obvious (“I need to find a song”). The emotional one (i.e. “I want to feel less alone”) is just as true, and often more powerful.
in this articleNesrine Changuel highlights how Revolut earns loyalty and delights customers by anticipating user needs, even in areas they don't expect. Most people wouldn't get their mobile data through a banking app, but Revolut identified a natural pain point for customers and solved it directly.
Revolut's travel eSIM feature allows customers to activate mobile data instantly from the app. It's simple, fully integrated, and turns a typically frustrating moment into one that feels relaxing and magical. Timely, unexpected solutions like this build trust and strengthen an emotional connection with a brand.
Nesrine calls it Deep Delight: features that solve real, often overlooked problems and make users feel seen, safe and in control. These are not surface contacts. They shape experiences in the way people remember and recall them.
She shows how Revolut has evolved from a currency exchange tool to a complete travel and financial companion by doing three things well:
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Identify a niche audience and design features that anticipate their needs.
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Introduce unexpected and delightful features that exceed expectations.
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The surface is richly layered to improve everyday use.
Eric Ryan, founder of Method (home cleaning), Olly (vitamins) and Wellie (bandages), has built billion-dollar consumer brands by designing around emotional connections. His approach is masterful, creating a sense of delight through packaging, positioning and surprise.
exist recent podcastsEric listed the script:
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Aim for emotional reward. He points to Virgin Atlantic as a perfect example. While most airlines focus on efficiency and sameness, Virgin treats the cabin as a boutique experience…purple lights, unexpected music, human details. It breaks the category script and makes people feel something different.
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One of his favorite principles is Combine familiar content with fiction. Joy blooms at that intersection. If it's too familiar, you'll blend in. If it's too novel, people won't trust it. The magic of a product or service is that it's obvious once you see it, but unexpected when it first appears.
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Start with a sea of sameness. Look at the shelves. If everything is green and round, make something purple and square. Olly's square bottle and straightforward label (“Sleep” instead of “Melatonin”) stand out in a sea of complexity and confusion.
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Steal from other categories. Great product design often comes from remixing. Method soap bottles are inspired by high-end vases and camping fuel bottles. The goal is to create “objects of desire” that make people want to display everyday products.
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Discover culture shifts. He looks for big consumer trends that haven't touched a category yet. Vitamins have not kept pace with healthy lifestyles. Home cleaning products ignore sustainability and design. He bridged the gap before anyone else noticed.
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Create wow moments. Eric shared a story from the Steve Bartlett podcast where guests received a printed photo album containing images from the episode that were created and delivered just minutes after recording. A small, unexpected gesture makes an experience personal and memorable. A quick delight, delivered with care.
If you'd rather read than listen This is Eric's script in text form.
Sometimes the clearest way to explain a pleasant experience is to show what happens when it is missing.
This short Instagram video Comedian Jake Lambert hilariously recounts the strange, frustrating, and completely avoidable design decisions that make up many hotel rooms. Every design choice affects user experience, for better or worse.
When you turn intention into intuition, magic happens— Will Guidara (co-owner of Eleven Madison Park and Unreasonable hospitality)
Will Guidara creates some of the best restaurants in the world, focusing not only on good food but on creating a consistent sense of pleasure. His guiding philosophy is that excellence rarely happens by accident. This was planned.
Guidara's team relies on more than just “good instincts.” They notice details and develop habits around them. When a couple mentions their honeymoon destination, dessert becomes a themed surprise. When a guest missed a hot dog at the ball game before dinner, the waiter went out and bought one from a street vendor, and the kitchen turned it into a white-tablecloth version. When staff overheard a diner worried about their parking meter, someone quietly went out to feed the meal so guests didn't have to interrupt their dining experience or get a ticket. None of this comes from policy. it comes from a culture of attention and Performance.
Intuition may spark a good idea, but intention is what makes it repeatable. Most great experiences are not effortless. They just feel that way. Behind the scenes, there are people watching closely and caring to the end.
As Gidala says, intuition is knowing what will make someone happy; intention is doing something about it. The intersection of the two is where loyalty is built and where magic happens.
In this blog postSeth Godin makes a clear distinction between platforms that passively serve algorithms and curators that actively shape better, more relevant experiences.
He points to companies like Netflix as examples of companies that are successful because they focus on curation and making conscious, taste-driven choices that help people find what matters. On the other hand, he points to travel sites ranking flights with hidden fees above more transparent options, or Amazon showing spam because of algorithmic rewards. When platforms stop curating, user experience suffers.
It’s directly related to how we view product fun. Algorithms can expand systems, but they cannot replace judgment. What you choose to show, hide, or prioritize affects the entire journey. You have to care, you have to choose.
When we talk about the people who have built parts of our culture that we are proud of, we almost never talk about platforms. We're talking about people who have the courage, taste, and energy to help others discover things that make a difference, while sifting through the junk and junk. — Seth Godin
Of course, curation is not without risks. Done poorly, it can lead to gatekeeping or groupthink, especially when platforms suppress diverse viewpoints in the name of quality or safety. The goal is not to control the conversation. It guides discovery with care, intention, and transparency.
I spend a small portion of each year mentoring and teaching entrepreneurship students at Tulane University, IESE, and Stanford University. One message I repeat often is that when you are first starting out, people are more willing to help than you think.
This short video from Palmer Luckey (creator of Oculus and Anduril) captures this idea perfectly. He talks about how age is a privilege, but it doesn't last forever. When you first embark on your journey, people who are very busy or accomplished often make time for you. But it’s not just about sending a cold email. Rather, take the time to be thoughtful, specific, sincere, and original. When someone shows they've done their job, it stands out. Often, this is enough to win a response, even from a very busy person.
Too many students are reluctant to engage with people they admire. They think they will be ignored. But if you're intentional and respectful of someone's time, surprisingly, the answer is often yes. This doesn't just apply to students. Early stage entrepreneurs often underestimate how much others want to help.
It’s also a way to stand out from the crowd. Most people follow the expected path. But joy often lies in the unexpected. Most people wouldn't dream of knocking on a side door when they find it.
I guarantee you, the day you turn 30, no one will care about helping young people anymore. — Palmer Lackey
Isaac French wrote a short post It captures real-world moments of emotional connection: standing near an airport arrivals gate and watching people reconnect with those who are waiting for them.
We all really enjoyed those moments ourselves. But occasionally, it's worth taking a step back and paying attention to this in other people. Next time you're at the airport or anywhere people meet again, take a minute to see what that moment looks and feels like. The airport is the equivalent of stopping to smell the flowers.
Before I wrap up, a simple question: Happiness is emotional, personal, and often surprising. When does it hit you hardest while traveling?
If a quote sparks an idea in your mind, makes you smile, or reminds you of someone, forward it in a newsletter, post the quote on social media, or just text it to a friend. That's how this community grows: one thoughtful share at a time 🙂
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