I understand the importance of user research in creating effective designs. However, when I was tasked with designing emotion icons for social media posts, I didn't have the luxury of conducting user research. Instead, I relied on market research to understand the needs of the customers and industry standards to guide my design decisions.

Based on my market research, I identified common icons used to express emotions. I then began sketching out different icon designs for each emotion, keeping in mind the need for simplicity and clarity to ensure that the icons were easily recognizable. Additionally, each color conveys different emotions. I used Plutchik’s wheel of emotions to learn about the colors and the emotions they represent. The wheel of emotions is widely accepted as the standard for emotions and their colors.

I utilized the colors associated with different emotions, such as blue for sadness, yellow for joy, and red for anger. I was able to find corresponding colors within the design system, ensuring that they were consistent with the rest of the platform. I was able to successfully create icons by following the current style being used within the platform and combining that with expressions users frequently use as emojis on their phones. By assigning specific colors to each emotion, combined with the icon, I was able to create a visual language that effectively communicated the desired emotions to users. My attention to color theory and the users familiarity with emotion icons helped me to create a user experience that was not only visually pleasing but also emotionally resonant.