The Emotional Engine of Experience Design:
Why Feeling Comes First

What every EX practitioner needs to know about emotion, behaviour, and building real connection at work
Katie Austin

Minutes
8th May 2025
Employee Experience
Human Centred
Empathy
Customer Experience

We talk a lot about systems, journeys, and metrics in employee experience. But what about emotions?

In our recent session with Tamar Cohen, experience strategist and founder of Halo Effect, we explored a critical truth: if you’re not designing for how people feel, you’re only doing half the job.

Here’s a deep dive into what we covered — plus practical ways to apply the insights in your work.


💭 Why Emotions Belong in Your EX Toolkit

Tamar opened the session with a compelling reminder from behavioural science:
“People think they make rational decisions. But most of the time, they don’t.”

Citing Nobel Prize-winning research from Daniel Kahneman and others, she reminded us that:

  • 85% of decisions are emotional or subconscious
  • People react emotionally first, then rationalise after
  • Experiences that overlook emotion risk falling flat — or worse, causing disconnection


This isn't just theory — Tamar brought it to life with relatable stories, from broken badge access systems to decision-fatigued judges handing down harsher rulings before lunch.

The message was clear: context, emotion, and perception shape behaviour more than logic does.
🔍 Emotional Drivers of Experience: What to Look For

So, what kinds of emotions matter most in EX?

Tamar shared five core emotional needs that employees look for in a healthy experience:

  1. Autonomy and ownership – Do I have space to shape how I work?
  2. Connection and collaboration – Am I part of a team? Do I belong?
  3. Growth – Can I develop new skills and see a future here?
  4. Recognition – Do others see and appreciate my contribution?
  5. Feedback and voice – Can I speak up and be heard?


Much like the drivers we use from our EX Lens research, when these needs go unmet, people may not become actively disengaged — but they’ll often slip into what Tamar calls “the meh economy” — a state of emotional disconnection, low trust, and minimal energy.
🧠 Emotion and Decision-Making at Work

Employees might say they’re leaving because of pay, progression or job title — but their real drivers are often deeper:

  • A lack of belonging
  • Inconsistent communication
  • Feeling unseen or unheard


Tamar also pointed to declining trust as a major emotional undercurrent in workplaces today. Using the Edelman Trust Index, she showed how trust in employers has dropped significantly for the first time in years — and with it, employees’ willingness to engage.
🛠 Practical Takeaways for EX Practitioners

As an EX practitioner, it’s not just your job to optimise the system — it’s to tune into emotion and design for how people want to feel.

Here are 5 ways to get started:

✅ Bring emotion into your personas and journey maps
Go beyond surface-level tasks. What are people feeling at each stage — and what do they need emotionally to move forward? Pro members can try using our empathy mapping tool.

✅ Spot the disconnect between internal systems and customer experience
Tamar shared an example of delivery teams being measured on dispatch time (not delivery success) — which led to poor CX. The lesson? Employee experience is customer experience.

✅ Map friction and energy levels across the employee day
From commutes to log-ins to manager check-ins, every interaction can lift or drain energy. Run a “day in the life” mapping session and highlight emotional highs and lows.

✅ Talk to your people about what matters
Ask questions like “What makes a great day for you here?” and “When did you last feel proud of your work?” to surface emotional drivers you can act on. Or download our ‘Best Experience' activity to uncover what a great experience really looks like to your people.

✅ Design for the whole person
From flexibility to mental health support to clear career paths, Tamar encouraged us to build systems that support humans — not just roles.
🎓 Want to build better emotional experiences?

If this session resonated with you, you might enjoy our EX Designer course — it’s packed with tools, templates, and approaches to help you design human-centered employee journeys that drive connection, performance, and trust.

Or, if you’d like live support, join our next EX Clinic to get feedback on your current challenges from a community of peers and experts.

👣 Your next step?

Whether you need space to learn or someone to help you build, you’ve got two options:

  1. Prefer to self-serve and learn by doing? Explore tools, courses and resources here at The EX Space.
  2. Need a thought partner to support your EX work? Reach out to our friends at People Lab