Aesthetic–usability effect

Let’s imagine we’re facilitating a qualitative usability-test session. We observe the participant struggling through a few tasks on a site, but their final feedback is a vague comment on the attractiveness of the interface.

Whenever we hear this kind of feedback that seems out of place, we need to consider three possibilities:

• The participant might

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The dominant school of thought when it comes to UI design in tech, at least that I’ve grown up with the past two decades, has centered around removing friction for users in accomplishing whatever it is they’re trying to do while delighting them in the process. The goal has been design that is elegant, in every sense of the word: intuitive, ingeniou... See more