There is no question that emotions play a large role in any designer's work. I believe that the success of a design is measured by how well it connects emotionally with its audience. The emotion may be sadness, fear, joy, a combination of which or anything in between.
When dealing with interactive design, a design that is aesthetically engaging and is able to promote a positive mood will be much easier to convey the desired message. Moreover, such a design will give the end user a comfortable feeling promoting interaction between the interface and end user.
I think it is never okay to ignore the emotional layer even if ignoring was possible, but I believe that it is virtually impossible to ignore the emotional layer.
When we focus on the function level of a design and we consciously try to avoid the emotional layer of the design we are still unconsciously considering the emotional aspect of the design. This level may be very basic but it definitely is related to the emotional. when we design to create a " better user experience" or "simple user experience" or " keeping the user happy" we are still considering to keep the user emotionally happy and avoid raising negative feelings such as frustration, anger, confusion and annoyance in our users.
I think you're right that it's hard to decouple emotion and function, largely because of the fact that function can evoke emotion. When something functions really well you can't help but feel delight. When something functions poorly, you can't help but feel frustration.
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