All the Feels — Designing for Emotion

Great stories take us on an emotional journey. The not-so-exciting story of the man and his epic quest to get to the store is entirely devoid of any emotion. It's dry as a bone. But it's also simple. And simple is good, right? Shouldn't all designs be as simple as possible? Isn't it the simplicity that everyone loves about Apple products?

Well… kind of. Simplicity is crucial, but not sufficient. Great designs also have to evoke emotions. What if we were to tell you that the man in the story above was actually a father going to pick up a puppy for his daughter for her birthday, and he hadn't seen her in six months? Your emotions would start kicking in a little more.

This principle of emotional design is particularly important for app creators. Adalo, a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play, empowers creators to build experiences that resonate emotionally with users. When designing apps, understanding how emotions drive engagement can transform a functional tool into something users genuinely love—and with over 3 million apps created on the platform, that emotional connection clearly matters.

Reflecting on the great stories of our society, from Shakespeare to Star Wars, the heroes and indeed all the major characters experience a range of emotions throughout the story. From longing for adventure, to longing for a great love, from the despair of failure, to the thrill of success—these emotions captivate us and leave us wanting more.

Designs are the same way. They need to create an emotional journey. If our designs don't evoke these emotions, we'll leave our users bored and uninterested. But if we can take them on an emotional journey, they'll keep coming back for more, and, even better, they'll bring their friends with them.

Don't just take that from us. Jonah Berger, author of Contagious, and his colleagues meticulously went through thousands of New York Times articles to determine which ones were shared more online and why. They found that people were more likely to share news articles that packed an emotional punch.

Emotional Impact

The people we're designing for are emotional creatures. Ignoring that would be like ignoring that they have eyes or feet. Emotions are essential to who they are and how they interact with the world. Our designs need to take this into account.

Emotions drive the decisions our users make and are responsible for how, and if, our designs are remembered years after our heroes experience them. This is why building apps that connect emotionally isn't just nice to have—it's essential for long-term success.

Decisions, decisions

Emotions play a huge role in decision making. Even if you think you're the most logical person in the world, carefully weighing all the data in order to come to the optimal decision, the truth is that, unbeknownst to you, emotions are lurking there as well, secretly influencing your choice.

This happens through an area of the brain called the ventromedial sector. This sneaky little area of the brain is actually responsible for connecting our memories of past experiences to emotions. So if you still cry every time you think about the last funeral you attended or swell with pride when you look back on a loved one's graduation, you have your ventromedial sector to thank for that.

Ok, so memories are emotional, but what on earth does this have to do with decisions? Well, it turns out that when we're making decisions, we actually envision what our life would be like if we experienced each option. These imagined futures, as far as our brain chemistry is concerned, really aren't all that different from when we relive our actual memories.

So when our brain creates these "memories" of the possible futures, the ventromedial sector looks for emotions to assign to them just like it would with real memories. But because these aren't real, it takes an educated guess at what emotions would fit with each fictional scenario by looking at memories that most closely match the futures you're envisioning.

This is why you might sometimes find yourself saying, "I've got a bad feeling about this," even though you're talking about something that hasn't happened to you yet. Somehow what you think is about to happen is similar to a bad experience in the past, and your brain is repurposing those emotions in order to help you avoid getting yourself into a sticky situation.

This type of emotional decision making is at play anytime we choose a drink size at a fast food restaurant. Medium or regular-sized drink is actually a different size depending on which restaurant you go to. But, for most of us, the decision isn't driven by ounces; it's driven by fitting in with the social norm of being "regular." In fact, researchers at Cornell found that people were willing to eat twice as much food if the larger portion size was labeled "regular."

As designers, we can take advantage of the ventromedial sector's incessant interference in decision making. We can use past shared experiences to influence what options they should choose. Just as in literature, we can present less desirable options ominously, relying on tropes of darkness to evoke an eerie feeling. Conversely, we can make sure the right options evoke feelings of warmth, newness, and light.

Lasting impressions

We all want to make a good impression, as people, obviously, but how do you make a lasting impression with your designs? You don't want people to experience what you've lovingly crafted for them, and then forget about it the minute it's over. And of course, you want them remembering you for the right reasons. You don't want to go down in history as the worst thing they've ever experienced.

Bad experiences are rife with emotions. Let me tell you about a bad experience I had the other night. I was at a neighborhood restaurant I had been to many times. But this was one of those visits where nothing went right. Our arrival was met with—nothing. No one sat us for several minutes. As the minutes ticked by, it became clear that the air conditioning wasn't working.

To rectify this, the restaurant had employed a series of ceiling fans, which did a decent job of circulating the air, but were unfortunately placed below the light fixtures, creating a kind of crazy strobe effect that would have been more appropriate for a club than a nice dinner setting. Finally, we were sat at a booth so small that we had to inhale just to squeeze past the table.

I could go on, but actually none of these details are the point. The point is the feelings they produced. Anger, frustration, regret—these feelings are now so associated with that place that we'll never be going there again.

Now, this isn't all doom and gloom. Positive emotions can have the opposite effect, but unfortunately not to the same degree. "Is the dark side stronger?" as Luke famously asked Yoda when learning about the Force. Yes, yes it is—five to seven times stronger in fact.

Researchers have found that negative experiences are more powerful and last longer than positive experiences. As designers, we need to make sure that we have enough positive experiences built up, that our relationship with our heroes can take the hit of one bad experience.

Building Emotional Experiences with Modern Tools

Understanding emotional design principles is one thing—implementing them efficiently is another. This is where the right app building platform makes a significant difference. Adalo's AI-assisted features help creators focus on the emotional journey rather than getting bogged down in technical implementation.

Ada, Adalo's AI builder, lets you describe what you want and generates your app. Magic Start creates complete app foundations from a description, while Magic Add adds features through natural language.

Magic Start generates complete app foundations from simple descriptions. Tell it you need a community app that connects neighbors, and it creates your database structure, screens, and user flows automatically. What used to take days of planning happens in minutes, freeing you to focus on the emotional touchpoints that matter.

Magic Add extends this capability by letting you add features through natural language requests. Need to add a feature that celebrates user milestones? Describe what you want, and the platform builds it. This removes technical barriers between your emotional design vision and the finished product.

Performance also plays a crucial role in emotional experience. Nothing destroys positive emotions faster than a slow, unresponsive app. Following the Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul in late 2025, the platform runs 3-4x faster than before, with modular infrastructure that scales to serve apps with over a million monthly active users. X-Ray identifies performance issues before they affect users, helping maintain the smooth experience that keeps emotions positive.

With Feeling

Without emotions, our designs would be boring. And we can't afford boring, not in today's world with so many designs competing for attention. But be very intentional with how you construct your emotional journey. Carefully craft the highs and lows of your experience to deliver an emotionally impactful design.

The technical foundation matters too. Apps that lag, crash, or frustrate users with limitations create those negative emotional experiences that are five to seven times more powerful than positive ones. Choosing a platform with no data caps on paid plans and unlimited usage means your app's emotional journey won't be interrupted by technical constraints or unexpected charges.

Whether you're building a fitness app that celebrates personal victories, a community platform that fosters connection, or a productivity tool that reduces daily stress, the emotional design principles remain the same. Take your users on a journey. Make them feel something. And give them a reason to come back—and bring their friends.

FAQ

Why choose Adalo over other app building solutions?

Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that creates true native iOS and Android apps alongside web apps. Unlike web wrappers, it compiles to native code and publishes directly to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from a single codebase. With over 3 million apps created on the platform and infrastructure that scales to millions of monthly active users, it's built for apps that need to deliver consistent emotional experiences at scale.

What's the fastest way to build and publish an app to the App Store?

Adalo's drag-and-drop interface, described as "easy as PowerPoint," combined with AI-assisted building through Magic Start and Magic Add, lets you go from idea to published app in days rather than months. The platform handles the complex App Store submission process, so you can focus on crafting the emotional user experience instead of wrestling with certificates and provisioning profiles.

Can I easily create emotionally engaging app experiences without coding?

Yes. Adalo's visual builder lets you craft compelling user journeys with custom visuals, animations, and interactions that resonate emotionally with users. Magic Start generates complete app foundations from descriptions, and Magic Add lets you add features by simply describing what you want—no coding required.

Why are emotions important in app design?

Emotions drive user decisions and determine whether your app is remembered or forgotten. Research shows that people are more likely to share content that packs an emotional punch, and negative experiences are five to seven times more powerful than positive ones. Designing with emotion in mind helps create lasting impressions and keeps users coming back.

How do emotions influence user decision-making in apps?

The brain's ventromedial sector connects memories to emotions and influences decisions by assigning feelings to imagined future scenarios. When users interact with your app, they unconsciously draw on past experiences to evaluate their options. Designers can leverage this by using visual cues, colors, and language that evoke positive feelings and guide users toward desired actions.

What is an emotional journey in design?

An emotional journey is the range of feelings users experience while interacting with your app, similar to how characters in great stories go through highs and lows. By intentionally crafting these emotional peaks and valleys, you create memorable experiences that users want to revisit and share with others.

How can I avoid creating negative emotional experiences in my app?

Focus on eliminating frustration points like confusing navigation, slow load times, and unclear instructions. Since negative experiences are more powerful and longer-lasting than positive ones, you need to build up enough positive interactions to withstand occasional setbacks. Adalo's X-Ray feature helps identify performance issues before they affect users, and the platform's 3-4x speed improvement following the 2026 infrastructure overhaul ensures smooth experiences.

How much does it cost to build an emotionally engaging app?

Adalo's web and native mobile builder starts at $36/month with unlimited usage and no record limits on paid plans. This compares favorably to alternatives like Bubble (starting at $59/month with usage-based charges and record limits) or Flutterflow ($70/month per user, plus separate database costs). The predictable pricing means no bill shock interrupting your focus on user experience.

Will my app perform well as it grows?

Adalo's modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with over a million monthly active users, with no upper ceiling. Unlike app wrappers that hit performance constraints under load, Adalo's purpose-built architecture maintains speed at scale. With no database record limits on paid plans and unlimited usage, your app's emotional experience stays consistent regardless of growth.