Benefits Of Aesthetics And Usability In Experience Design

A designer does not have to worry about sacrificing usability to achieve aesthetics nor vice versa, as many times, aesthetics is a sound method to achieve usability.

In 1940, Lucky Strike cigarettes became a national symbol by committing one design change to its packaging: the packet’s base color was changed from green to pure white.

Whiteness, hygiene, and bodily cleanliness were considered American ideals?in the 1940s. This made for curious effects such as Americans paying more for white-shelled eggs than for brown?.

Lucky Strike’s new white coat made the cigarette pack recognizably American. This incentivized consumption in the massive population of immigrants coming into the United States at the time. Immigrants wanted so badly to be identified as Americans — while reminded every day by their tongues that they are not, they looked to other means of self-expression to “feel part of American culture?,” one of which was owning a pack of white Lucky Strike.

By adopting a cultural style, visual design can speak intimately to a body of consumers. In Lucky Strike’s case, it spoke to a repressed need shared by many people to express an ideal of their identity.

Beyond basic, utilitarian aesthetic principles, the visual design creates product value by reflecting cultural values that increase a product’s and, by extension, its brand’s influence by magnitudes.

All The Best,

Nick !