Aesthetics vs. Usability
I’ve heard loads of times that user interface beauty has minor priority and you should forget about it when creating the actual interface architecture.User cares only about usability itself not about UI, they’re saying. I can’t agree with that opinion and would always argue with those who thinks so.
If you think that usability is more important than aesthetics remember yourself picking a car or puppy or even your girlfriend/boyfriend. You will probably go further and post new fancy-looking photos on Instagram. (#mybaby)
I can’t imagine the owner of Dacia Logan (no offence, though) calling it “my precious”.
Such intimate and affectionate relationships with a product cause feelings of attraction, loyalty, and patience?—?all very important signs in the durable usability and overall success of a design. As a result you will get more effective interaction with product you designed.
I can’t imagine the owner of Dacia Logan (no offence, though) calling it “my precious”.
Such intimate and affectionate relationships with a product cause feelings of attraction, loyalty, and patience?—?all very important signs in the durable usability and overall success of a design. As a result you will get more effective interaction with product you designed.
Flaminio Bertoni, Citroen DS 1955 designer, was probably one of the first who understood that the product should be good-looking and innovative at the same time. It significantly increased the demand on this model, and the competitors were far away for a wile.
Aesthetics play important role when your design will be used. Beautiful designs are more effective at causing positive emotions than ugly ones.
Positive emotion caused by your design helps solving the problem and think creatively. This is especially important in stressful environments such as big companies, since stress evokes tiredness and productivity loss.
If you still have some doubts about the importance of beautiful design I can prove it by showing you a few legendary examples I’ve found.
In a study of how people use computers, researchers found that early impressions influenced long-term attitudes to their quality and use. A similar phenomenon is well documented with regard to human attractiveness?—?first impressions of people influence attitude formation and measurably affect how people are perceived and treated. “Forming Impressions of Personality” by Solomon E. Asch, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1946, vol. 41 , 258-290.
In the 1950s, Former IBM CEO, Thomas J. Watson, famously said“Good design is good business”.
In 1995 two researchers in Tokyo, Japan Masaaki Kurosu and Kaori Kashimura released a research study they had performed entitled Apparent Usability vs. Inherent Usability. In the study they tried to measure the difference between how efficiently usable a product was compared to how consumers perceived the usefulness of a product. In their research they found out that a product’s presentation or “apparent beauty” has more effect on a consumer’s purchasing habits than the product’s actual usefulness.
This is so called Aesthetic-Usability effect.
The aesthetic-usability effect describes a phenomenon in which people perceive more-aesthetic designs as easier to use than less-aesthetic designs?—?whether they are or not. The effect has been observed in several experiments, and has significant implications regarding the acceptance, use, and performance of a design.