Beyond the Visual:
The Hidden Language
of Product Perception
A self-developed research methodology designed to decode how products communicate value through the senses. By separating brand expectation from embodied experience, the study reveals how materiality, weight, sound, texture, and even smell silently translate brand narratives, and how our perception of luxury is rooted as much in primal sensory instincts as in cultural symbolism.
In collaboration with
From Technical Trust, to Emotional Experience
For decades, Philips Lighting built its reputation on engineering reliability and technical excellence. But with the emergence of connected devices and the Smart Home ecosystem, the company began repositioning itself under a new name: Signify.
A brand built on technical trust and engineering reliability needed to transition into a space defined by domestic intimacy, atmosphere, and emotional experience.
This shift raised an important question:
how can physical products express this transition through their sensory qualities?
I was invited to explore the gap between inherited brand perception and the embodied experience of these new domestic technologies, design and materiality.
To do so, I developed a qualitative research methodology designed to isolate how people interpret products through touch, sound, weight, and materiality, beyond brand recognition alone.
The Value Spectrum
I proposed that there is a measurable distance between what people expect from a brand and what they actually feel when encountering its products through the senses.
This gap becomes visible in the moment where brand narrative meets embodied experience: in the weight of an object, the resistance of a hinge, the texture of a surface, the sound of opening, the order of packaging.
When expectation and sensory experience align, trust is reinforced. When they diverge, disappointment emerges. Brand value, then, does not live in image alone, but in the relationship between promise and perception.
In other words, value exists on a spectrum between projection and embodied reality.
Methodology Trailer
A short introduction to the research method: mapping brand expectations, removing visual bias, and evaluating products through touch, sound, weight, and material interaction.
The Sensory Protocol
I designed a research protocol that moves participants through three stages: expectation, sensory encounter, and reflection...
The Expectations
Before touching any product, users associate emotional words with each brand. "Authentic," "warm," "youthful"; these form the baseline of what the brand promises.
WordCloud mapping reveals the halo effect: brand narrative shapes anticipated experience.
The Blind Test
Blindfolded, users evaluate the same products through touch, sound, and scent alone. No logos. No color. Just the raw sensory encounter. Every gesture is recorded.
Stripping away visual identity exposes the gap between narrative and material reality.
The Reveal
Finally, users see the product. The reveal tests whether visual branding confirms or contradicts their blind sensory assessment. The distance becomes visible.
Cognitive dissonance occurs when premium branding meets poor sensory execution.
The Blindfold Protocol
"The senses are not merely passive receptors of information but active participants in the construction of reality."
— David Howes, The Empire of the Senses
Visual branding wields immense power. A logo, a color palette, a carefully staged photograph—these elements prime our expectations before we ever touch a product. But this priming is also a distortion. When we see a luxury brand's packaging, we are not experiencing the object; we are experiencing the narrative we have been conditioned to associate with it.
The blindfold protocol removes this variable. By excluding sight, we access what David Howes calls the "sensory order"—the hierarchy of perception that operates beneath conscious brand recognition. Touch becomes primary. Sound becomes information. Temperature, weight, and texture speak without the interference of visual bias.
Visual Bias
Logo recognition triggers pre-conditioned quality associations. We judge what we expect, not what we feel.
Narrative Conditioning
Brand storytelling creates a "halo effect" that masks sensory inconsistencies. The eye forgives what the hand cannot.
Proximal Truth
Objects close to the body—held, touched, manipulated—are judged by different criteria than objects viewed from distance.
"What feels like home? What invites the hand to linger? These questions cannot be answered through visual analysis alone. The blindfold reveals the gap between what a brand promises and what a product actually delivers to the senses."
What Users Actually Feel
Blind sensory evaluation revealed the unspoken vocabulary of quality. Users immediately sense when design intention aligns with execution—and when it doesn't.
"If they do it like this [ripping gesture], you want people to know wether it's been opened or not... I will know I am the first one to open the box."
Tamper-evident packaging creates emotional security and perceived newness. Users read packaging mechanics as a signal of care, integrity, and product freshness.
— Google Home"It's actually kind of entangled. I cannot get it out, so I have to do more... I want to get the product first, that's the most important."
Cable management and internal packaging structure directly impact first impression. Complexity signals disrespect for user time.
— Philips HUE"Like, it even has an echoe...Yeah, it feels.. empty to me. It doesn't feel like quality product..."
Users intuitively categorize products into tiers. Consistency matters more than absolute quality—mismatched materials create cognitive dissonance.
— Philips HUE"I wouldn't have this next to my bed. It reminds me of an office... the tactility of it makes me think it's a practical object and not necessarily a home object."
Material choices determine spatial belonging. Hard plastic reads 'industrial'; soft-touch reads 'domestic'. Context determines appropriateness.
— Philips Sensor vs Google Home"This would become part of the interior [...] I could almost think of it as flowers? like taking care of it."
Seamless transitions between soft-touch fabric and hardware create objects that invite touch. Users describe these as something I can grab and play with: domestic, personal, home-worthy.
— Google Home"ah, now I have a bunch of fallen booklets - instructions.. everything is loose."
Material choices determine spatial belonging. Hard plastic reads 'industrial'; soft-touch reads 'domestic'. Context determines appropriateness.
— Philips SensorSix Parameters of Perceived Value
From the research, I distilled six measurable attributes that determine whether a product feels "premium" or "cheap," regardless of its price.
Physicality
Every choice and tolerance of materials is expected to serve a purpose. Users sense when design is rushed or corners are cut.
Transparency
People value real access to content. Windows, viewing holes, immediate product visibility build trust and reduce anxiety.
Order
The sequence of opening must be coherent. This order is echo of its content—chaos signals disrespect, clarity signals care.
Stratification
Layering the opening journey determines first impressions. Each step should reveal, not obscure.
Alignment
Service must align with emotions, states of mind. The product should meet the user in their everyday life.
Context
Material choices determine distance between object and user. Fabric reads 'home'; plastic reads 'office'.
"Perceived quality is not the sum of individual sensory inputs, but their coherence."
From Insight to Design Criteria
Each sensory audit evaluates specific, measurable attributes derived from user research. These parameters serve as both diagnostic tools and design targets.
Packaging Hierarchy
Product Visibility
User should see product within 3 seconds of opening. Viewing holes or transparent layers preferred.
Documentation Layering
Manuals and warranties underneath product, not on top. Loose paper creates 'messy' perception.
Single-Motion Access
Opening → Product removal should require ≤2 distinct actions. More steps = frustration.
Cable Management
Cables must not be trapped in box folds. Entanglement signals poor planning.
Material Confidence
Temperature Neutrality
Materials should feel neutral-to-warm (18-22°C) within 3 seconds. Cold plastic = "cheap".
Surface Continuity
Transitions between materials should be seamless or intentionally layered, not abrupt.
Weight Substance
Actual weight should exceed visual expectation by 15-20%. Lightness = "flimsy".
Texture Intention
Micro-texture should signal purpose: grip zones vs. display surfaces.
Contextual Fit
Domestic vs. Industrial
Soft-touch materials read "home"; hard plastic reads "office." Context determines appropriateness.
Blending vs. Standing Out
Product should be sleek enough to disappear, distinctive enough to invite touch.
Orientation Clarity
Form should indicate usage: flat base, curved front, hard edges where wall meets.
"Perceived quality is not the sum of individual sensory inputs, but their coherence. A product that sounds premium but feels cheap creates cognitive dissonance. The goal is alignment across all five parameters."
Beyond the Report
Research only matters if it changes decisions. Value Tuning was designed to give designers leverage in budget conversations.
Strategic
Demonstrated that sensorial investment in packaging directly affected brand positioning against Apple and Google. The 'Volkswagen vs Audi' metaphor became internal shorthand.
Tactical
Identified specific friction points—cable entanglement, documentation layering, material transitions—for immediate redesign in the HUE line.
Political
Gave designers user-generated evidence to advocate for quality budgets, shifting the conversation from 'what can we save?' to 'what must we value?'
"The blindfold became a metaphor for my practice: removing the obvious to reveal the essential. Whether designing a lamp that breathes or researching how packaging shapes desire, I'm drawn to moments where the invisible becomes tangible."
In an Increasingly Digital World
We touch screens but not objects. We swipe through images but rarely handle materials. The blindfold protocol recovers what we've forgotten: that the body knows things the eye has been trained to overlook.
Working with Signify, I learned that the most sophisticated technology means little if the body rejects it at first touch. The weight of a closing lid, the temperature of ceramic, the precise resistance of a hinge—these are the unspoken vocabulary of luxury.
Value Tuning was designed for a lighting company, but its application extends to any brand that asks: How do we want to be remembered? Not through what people see, but through what they feel.