3. Key Findings – Aesthetics v/s Usability How much are usability studies swayed by the visual design of the prototype? When should we need to test with glossy prototypes as opposed to wireframes? Wednesday January 26, 2011
4.
5. More about the psychological response to sensory stimulus, than the actual trigger. Wednesday January 26, 2011
11. “Do users want applications that work, or applications that can wrap themselves into funny shapes? I'm sure it looks really whizzy in demos, but come on, we're just trying to give user applications to help them do their jobs.” Wednesday January 26, 2011
12. “...it doesn't matter how pretty your site is or how many "bells and whistles" you have. While a high-quality site is important, the majority of people today value usability more than good looks or fanciness.” Wednesday January 26, 2011
13. X “...it doesn't matter how pretty your site is or how many "bells and whistles" you have. While a high-quality site is important, the majority of people today value usability more than good looks or fanciness.” You can’t separate Usability from Visual Design Wednesday January 26, 2011
15. Key Findings – Aesthetics v/s Usability Perceptions of interface aesthetic are closely related to apparent usability and thus increase the likelihood that aesthetics may considerably affect system acceptability Look after the design and the usability will look after itself Good usability is inherent in good design because people think well designed things work better, whether they do or not. Focus on good design and you will make the product more usable by default, you will also give it a competitive edge Sexy visual design can set the hook and keep the user exploring for a little longer In the case of the short vs longer paths to checkout, as long as they can actually succeed and get what they want a few extra clicks and pages won't matter. But this is for few visits to the web site. If they have to do a lot, then the extra pages and clicks gets more irritating than any sexy can fix. A glossy look will get the attention, just like a great book cover or film trailer. However poor usability will leave the user wanting more due to frustration and eventually looking for alternatives. An ugly site, no matter how usable, probably won't draw user attention in the first place so they will never know how friendly it is. Wednesday January 26, 2011
16. “Attractive things work better.” http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotion_design.html Wednesday January 26, 2011
17. Key Findings – Aesthetics v/s Usability It depends on the type of product, customer, target audience and market If you are entering a market that is full of visually attractive products, people may not even look at your product if it is perceived as backwards and old-fashioned. On the other hand, if you have an existing product, your customers probably appreciate improved usability more than improved visuals. To provide a good user experience - an interface must be visually attractive This is a logical statement and true in general, however I feel that it is not always the case. A perfect example is Craigslist, which performs quite well, satisfies the end user, yet visually is a carry over from the 1990's. It really depends on what the end user is seeking to accomplish, and whether being "visually pleased" is part of that success. Wednesday January 26, 2011
18. “Cars have been around for ages - since Ford’s little black number. They all pretty much do the same thing and look similar. Four wheels, seats, they go from point A to B. Why do people buy one over the other? One word. Design. Aesthetics and Car Design have been fused for many years. It’s what defines a car, it’s what gives a car it’s personality and importantly for the manufacturers, it’s what gives the car it’s competitive edge in the market place.” from “Aesthetic-Usability Effect”, Mark Boulton http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/aesthetic_usability_effect/ Wednesday January 26, 2011
19. Key Findings – Aesthetics v/s Usability Glamour can make the sale, but leading with it is usually not in the client's - or the practitioner's - best interest. Many decision makers jump for the glamorous visual design/interaction design before considering the user experience implications Users will be more likely to develop positive feelings towards the attractive product. This can lead to: Positive reviews – leading to more sales They’ll tell their friends – resulting in more sales leads They’ll tolerate faults more – reducing support calls An attractive product will be perceived as of higher quality Research shows that the aesthetics of an interface can influence pre-use perceptions and in many cases influences perceptions during or after use. Some research has shown that this influence can overshadow usability problems that exist in products and can cause the user to perceive the product as better than it really is. Aesthetics influence the trust of a product. A more aesthetically designed products wins the trust of users more quickly than the one that is not designed so well. Wednesday January 26, 2011
20. The attractive product will be perceived as easier to use. Ease of use is often a criteria in purchase decisions – easy to use products require less training and support. So by improving the attractiveness it increases the perceived ease of use – improving the chances of making a sale Users will be more likely to develop positive feelings towards the attractive product. This can lead to: Positive reviews – leading to more sales They’ll tell their friends – resulting in more sales leads They’ll tolerate faults more – reducing support calls The attractive product will be perceived as of higher quality And, perhaps most importantly; customers may overlook feature deficiencies so they get to use the more attractive product from “Aesthetic Usability Effect” by Ash Towers http://usabilityfriction.com/2010/03/30/aesthetic-usability-effect/ Wednesday January 26, 2011
21. “What is Beautiful is Usable” Three different processes may induce positive relationships between interface aesthetics and perceived usability: A popular stereotyping which might associate successful design on one (noticeable) design dimension with successful design of other, less implicit design dimensions. A halo effect may cause carry over of an aesthetic (or not aesthetic) design to perceptions of other design features. An affective response to the design’s aesthetics may improve users’ mood and their overall evaluations of the system from “Tractinsky et al” http://phdproject01.wordpress.com/2010/01/24/what-is-beautiful-is-usable-tractinsky-n-et-al/ Wednesday January 26, 2011
22. “Emotion is one of the strongest differentiators in user experience namely because it triggers unconscious responses to a product, website, environment or interface. Our feelings strongly influence our perceptions and often frame how we think about or refer to our experiences at a later date.” -Frank Spillers http://experiencedynamics.blogs.com/site_search_usability/2004/08/design_and_emot.html Wednesday January 26, 2011
23. Trust + Personality + Perception. . . “According to research presented at CHI 2007,users judge the relevancy of identical search results from different search engines based on the brand, with Yahoo and Google coming out on top… Participants in the study indicated that the results from Google and Yahoo were superior to identical results found through Windows Live or a generic search engine Wednesday January 26, 2011
24. “Product design that provides aesthetic appeal, pleasure and satisfaction can greatly influence the success of a product. Traditional cognitive approaches to product usability have tended to underestimate or fragment emotion from an understanding of the user experience. Affect, which is inexplicable linked to attitudes, expectations and motivations, plays a significant role in the cognition of product interaction, and therefore can be usefully treated as a design aid. Emotion influences and mediates specific aspects of interaction before, during and after the use of a product. These affective states regularly impact how a user manipulates and explores a user interface in order to support a desired cognitive state.” from “Emotion as a Cognitive Artifact and the Design Implications for Products That are Perceived As Pleasurable” http://www.alistapart.com/articles/indefenseofeyecandy Wednesday January 26, 2011
25. When to test with Glossy Prototypes Wednesday January 26, 2011
28. Conclusion – Aesthetics v/s Usability Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - but in practice a visually attractive page will at first entertain people and thus give them more impetus to click and discover. However over the long term this wears thin and people just get annoyed. So it's a short term gain for discoverability but long term loss in terms of repeat use and customer satisfaction. Appeal without usability becomes a form of art. Usability without look becomes engineering. The proportion and importance or each part vary from field to field. Both Usability and Aesthetics are equally important and depends entirely on the type of users and market the product is going to cater to. Usability + Aesthetics = User Experience Wednesday January 26, 2011
29. Efficient + Easy to Use = Enjoyable ? Wednesday January 26, 2011
31. References CHI 97 Electronic Publications: Papers - Aesthetics and Apparent Usability: Empirically Assessing Cultural and Methodological Issues - Noam Tractinsky (http://www.sigchi.org/chi97/proceedings/paper/nt.htm#U5) Kurosu, M. and Kashimura, K. Apparent usability vs. Inherent usability, CHI '95 Conference Companion, (1995), 292-293. Aesthetic Usability Effect - By Ash Towers | March 30, 2010 (http://usabilityfriction.com/2010/03/30/aesthetic-usability-effect/) Web users judge sites in the blink of an eye (http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060109/full/news060109-13.html) Stephen P Anderson (http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/category/UI--Interface-Design/)(http://www.alistapart.com/articles/indefenseofeyecandy) Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better (http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotion_design.html) Mark Boulton (http://www.markboulton.co.uk/journal/comments/aesthetic-usability-effect) Noam Tractinsky (http://mc.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/konferenzbaende/mc2005/konferenzband/muc2005_02_tractinsky.pdf) Alistair Gray (http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/aesthetics-usability.shtml) UX Myths (http://uxmyths.com/post/1161244116/myth-25-aesthetics-are-not-important-if-you-have-good-us) Wednesday January 26, 2011
