ReseaRch MethoD 54 The Love Letter & the Breakup Letter A personal letter written to a product often reveals profound insights about what people value and expect from the objects in their everyday lives. 1 The love letter, and its counterpart, the breakup letter, are two methods that allow people to express their sentiments about a product or a service using a medium and a format that are immediately understood. Instead of writing to a person, however, participants are asked to personify a product and write a personal message to it. The results are often unexpectedly deep and revealing about the relationships people have with the products and services in their lives. The love letter gets at the heart of what people feel during those magical moments of connection with a product. Descriptions of what elicits delight, infatuation, and loyalty are common themes. As researchers, you will hear about what those first moments of connection are like, and insights into why people stay with a product, even as other products compete for their attention. The Breakup letter alternatively provides insight about how, when, and where a relationship with a product turned sour, and can be used to gain insight into why people abandon a brand or a product. People will share information about what new product they are now happy with, and what the new product has that the abandoned product does not. Both exercises in letter writing are great techniques to use in a group dynamic, such as in design 1. In 2009, Smart Design created this method based on a familiar format in which to express thoughts and feelings about a product or a service in an informal, accessible way. The collective insights in the letters continue to influence and inspire the designers at Smart Design on both new and ongoing design projects. www.smartdesignworldwide.com See Smart Design's video at http://www .vimeo.com/smartdesign/breakupletter for an example of Love and Breakup Letters.