What is aesthetics, and what is it's role in design?... A simple question?... Really?
OK, a simple answer then. Aesthetics: The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty. (American Heritage Dictionary) As for it's importance in interaction design, one could safely say that - everything else being equal between two options - most if not all people would chose to use/purchase the one found to be more aesthetically pleasing. This is to say that we associate a value to beauty. Is perceived beauty more, less or equally important to ease of use, feature set, performance, etc? What about cultural, age, gender, and other differences that may influence perception of beauty? The whole issue quickly becomes very complex. Lets say you are looking to appeal to an audience that self identifies as cutting edge, trend setting, and unique. If those people are served up a product that has an appearance that appeals to the masses they will likely reject it without consideration. They will gravitate to items that intentionally fall outside the mainstream, and that may even shock or offend more conservative demographics. They have an aesthetic (as we all do) that is in many ways defined by the actions and reactions of others. My point, aesthetics/beauty certainly has value, but the extent of that value and it's implications on other aspects of a design are very dependent on the particular product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44186 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
