While recent research highlights the potential of social robots to support mood regulation, little is known about how prospective users view their integration into everyday life. To explore this, we conducted an exploratory case study that used a speculative robot concept—Mora—to provoke reflection and facilitate meaningful discussion about using social robots to manage subtle, day-to-day emotional experiences. We focused on the “Sunday Blues,” a common dip in mood that occurs at the end of the weekend, as a relatable context in which to explore individuals’ insights. Using a video prototype and a co-constructing stories method, we engaged 15 participants in imagining interactions with Mora and discussing their expectations, doubts, and concerns. The study surfaced a range of nuanced reflections around the attributes of social robots like empathy, intervention effectiveness, and ethical boundaries, which we translated into design considerations for future research and development in human-robot interaction.

This dissertation aims to develop a comprehensive understanding of mood-focused design through an integrative exploration of (1) how design researchers have understood and approached mood in their work, (2) how design practitioners have incorporated and addressed user or customer mood in real-world projects, and (3) how we, as researcher-designers, can understand and help address people’s mood in everyday contexts.

The dissertation begins with a scoping review of mood-related design literature. The findings reveal three conceptual categories of mood-focused design—mood-monitoring, mood-expressing, and mood-regulating design—and identify specific design issues associated with each category, together with strategies proposed to address them. Together, these findings provide a useful lens for clarifying what may be considered mood-focused design initiatives and offer actionable guidance for such efforts.

The second strand draws on interviews with design practitioners, adding nuance to the picture that emerged from the literature. The findings show that mood is addressed in practice in multiple ways: as an end in itself, and as a means to enhance engagement, enrich experience, create differentiation or strategic advantage, and facilitate user research. These findings further demonstrate that mood-regulating design, as one category of mood-focused design, may be oriented either toward intrinsic well-being goals or toward more instrumental, outcome-driven goals in real-world projects.

The third strand consists of our own practice-based exploration as researcher-designers, grounded in a specific everyday mood phenomenon: the “Sunday Blues,” a dip in mood often experienced during the transition from Sunday to Monday. Through a qualitative inquiry into its manifestations, contributing factors, and coping strategies, this strand illustrates how a subtle everyday mood phenomenon can be studied in depth. Through the design and evaluation of speculative interventions for the “Sunday Blues,” it also generates user-centered insights into how mood-regulating design may be meaningfully embedded in everyday life.

By integrating insights from design researchers, design practitioners, and our own exploration as researcher-designers, this dissertation offers a more explicit and comprehensive understanding of mood-focused design. It articulates key conceptual categories, reveals pragmatic orientations in the ways mood is incorporated into real-world design practice, and provides situated examples and considerations for engaging with mood in everyday contexts. In doing so, it supports the development of cumulative knowledge on mood-focused design and offers a foundation for addressing mood in a more systematic and impactful way in both research and practice.

Design for mood regulation is an emerging design area that is gaining growing interest. However, there is limited guidance on what designers should consider when creating interventions to support mood regulation. To address this gap, we conducted an exploratory case study focused on the “Sunday Blues”—a common dip in mood experienced at the end of the weekend as the new workweek approaches. We designed WeMo, a system aimed at helping users capture weekend highlights, culminating in a visual summary displayed on Monday. We engaged 15 participants in co-constructing stories around their potential use of the system. Participants expressed frustrations with the system’s features, concerns about its effectiveness, and obstacles to its application in daily life. Based on these insights, we highlight key considerations for designing mood-regulation interventions, such as balancing mood regulation with other fundamental needs, addressing the complex roots of mood, and respecting the acceptance of negative moods. By identifying user concerns and translating them into design considerations, this study provides actionable guidance for practitioners and contributes to the growing body of research in mood-focused design.

This article presents a comprehensive review of existing literature covering the topic of mood-focused design. It delves into how designers and design researchers currently address mood in the context of experience-driven design. Using a scoping review methodology, we identified and thematically analyzed sixty-six highly relevant articles. Our findings are categorized into four themes: (1) diverse features and impacts of mood that have been comprehended and explored in design; (2) mood-focused design innovations that support mood monitoring, expression, and regulation; (3) potential issues and considerations related to mood-focused design; and (4) methodological resources that support empathizing and ideation within a mood-focused design process. This scoping review advances our understanding of mood as a distinct facet of human experience in design and outlines the current state of mood-focused design as an emerging field. To facilitate progress in the field, we propose four avenues for further exploration, underscoring the need to expand mood-centric theoretical understanding, artifact creation, opinion sharing, and method development.