What makes something cute and why should we care? Is cuteness merely a frivolous aesthetic or a powerful emotional device? Despite its widespread use from advertising and activism to robotics and retail, cuteness remains a polarising, under-theorised, and often trivialised concept. Some scholars celebrate its affective impact; others critique it as infantilising, manipulative, or rooted in consumerism. Can cute do good, then? Research across neuroscience, psychology, humanities, and marketing shows that cute captures attention, stirs emotion, and influences behaviour. Beyond surface aesthetics, cute promotes empathy, nurtures pro-social behaviour, softens defences, humanises messages, and inspires care. Cute enhances brand loyalty, drives tourism, and advances activism. Emerging research also highlights cute’s therapeutic potential. Yet, in design research, cute is still under-theorised. A more systematic framework is needed to understand how it operates across the senses, emotions, and contexts. Buchanan’s Four Orders of Design consisting of symbol, object, interaction, and system offer a useful lens to examine the multi-dimensional impact of cuteness. To map its dimensions further, I developed the Cuteness Matrix, which analyses cuteness along two key axes: Economic-driven ↔ Purpose-driven, and Powerlessness ↔ Empowerment. This framework reveals the multiple roles cuteness can play, from manipulative marketing gimmick to a meaningful human-centred design strategy. It helps designers harness cuteness not just to attract, but to connect, comfort, and catalyse care. “Cute for Good” invites us to rethink what cuteness can do. Cute may be one of design’s most powerful and underestimated strategies: for making the world feel warmer, kinder, and more human.

Authors:
Yix Guo, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Yix is Senior Lecturer at NAFA-University of the Arts Singapore. She is pursuing a PhD at Central Saint Martins. Her research in Cuteness Studies seeks to inspire creative communication that is more emotionally resonant and purpose-driven.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yixquek/

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yix-Guo

Additional website of interest
http://www.yixquek.com

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

Bookmark