considerable attention to detail. Here, focus is essential.”110 Finally, elaboration occurs, during which one develops the design and further strengthens it cyclically to make sure it is as successful as possible, testing and repeating this step. Elaboration occurs with interactions with others and criticism—a likely step for social active leisure flow experiences, as these will be meaningful and interesting interactions that attract involvement and focus. All steps incorporate active leisure activities (what Csikszentmihalyi refers to as the “best experience overall,” hence the decision for this type of program for creativity—a sensory walk and live-work facility for artist group Elastic City), but the two main activities of active leisure (hobbies and socializing) occur most in incubation and elaboration, respectively. Preparation
Incubation
Insight
Evaluation
Elaboration
In “The Prepared Brain,” a subchapter of Norman’s Emotional Design, he explains wired-in tendencies of humans for a “negative affect”—those more beneficial for focus; his suggestions include “heights; sudden, unexpected loud sounds or bright lights; ‘looming’ objects; extreme hot or cold; darkness; crowds of people; rotting smells, decaying foods; harsh, abrupt sounds; grating and discordant sounds;”111 et cetera. These suggestions are the extremes of “negative affect,” but these can be applied in moderation to make a space more tuned for focus over creativity, a dichotomy made in his previous subchapter. After describing the numerous elements that create the “complex experience” of film, Norman turns around and explains, “All these effects work best, however, when they are unnoticed by the viewer…Noticing takes place at the reflective (voyeur’s) level, distracting you from that suspension of disbelief so essential to becoming fully captured by the flow at the behavioral (vicarious) level.”112 The same applies to the aforementioned creative process. Product designer Naoto Fukusawa furthers this point: “We designers have been working to stimulate people’s souls and minds. But in reality, I’m not thinking about this pen when I’m writing with it. Rather, it’s when you least think about it that the pen can be held most naturally.”113 The pen doesn’t distract the user but instead becomes an extension of the hand, integrally tied into the experience. Just as Csikszentmihalyi’s flow is not explicitly happiness until after the experience and one has time to post-realize the phenomenon, one should marvel at the film following its duration—not during it. For example, a viewer buys into a film when he or she becomes one with the experiences portrayed
110
Ibid.
111
Norman, Emotional Design, 30.
112
Ibid, 128-9.
113
Objectified, Netflix, directed by Gary Hustwit, 2009: Los Angeles.
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