A way of asking whether something works on more than one level at once — the split between how a thing strikes you instantly, how it behaves when you use it, and what it means once you've put it down.
Don Norman's framework splits the experience of a product into three levels of processing that happen in a different order than you'd expect: an instant, pre-thought reaction; a layer about whether it actually works the way you expect; and a slower layer about what it means, once the interaction is over. A design can succeed at one level and fail at another — and knowing which level you're solving for changes what "good" even means.
These aren't stages of a process — they're three simultaneous layers of response. Every object you design will land somewhere on all three, whether you intended it to or not.
The immediate, pre-conscious reaction to how something looks, feels, and sounds — before any use or thought is involved. This is appearance, weight, texture, first impression.
Whether the thing works the way you expected it to when you actually use it — function, performance, and usability. This is the level most usability testing lives at.
The meaning, story, and self-image a thing carries after the interaction is over — pride of ownership, memory, what it says about you. This is the slowest and longest-lasting level.
Images to come — the plan is one example per level, showing how the same kind of object can be evaluated at each layer independently.
An object chosen for how it looks or feels before anyone has touched it.
An object chosen for how it performs — or fails to — once someone actually uses it.
An object chosen for what it means to own, keep, or have made, well after first use.
Three questions to ask about anything you're building, at any stage.
What's someone's first reaction before they've used it at all — and is that the reaction you actually want?
When someone actually uses it, does it do what they expected, without confusion or friction?
After they've set it down, what story does having used it tell — about them, or about you as its maker?
Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things (1988, revised 2013).