Theory reader review

READER REVIEW

REVIEW 1: BEAUTY Vs. USABILITY

FUNCTION IS THE GOAL

JUICY SALIF

Based on this two topic, I actually inspired from the juicy salif picture that lecturer has showed to us. It is cool , it is good to look, however I don’t think it’s good to use. Is it aesthetic that important, and even more than usability?

For me, my answer is no.  So, first to stand up this point I started to search meaning of function and aesthetic. What is function? Function is basically the main purpose of the product it must accomplish the buyers need and wants accomplish the consumer need and wants. The product can repetitively perform its task amd the most important thing is it is safe, easy to use and durable to sustain its function.How about aesthetic? Aesthetic refers to the physical appearance of a product and its visual appeal to the target market. Couldn't deny that aesthetic is subjective and it brings different sense to different people due to their age, socio-economic background and current trends.

For a good design, i think that function is always the only one which comes first. It is the primary principal of a design! "Form follows function.", the golden quote by American architect. Louis Sullivan, this is enough to shows that the priority of a design is always comes with function and its purpose.

For the last century, function and usability has been the primary focus. The thought for previous was often been, "well if it works well. looking doesn't big matter." However when it comes to 21st century, people started toi put more attention on aesthetic. For example, people are willing to use high cost to buy expensive thing which has same function as the cheaper one. But why, why is this happening?Aesthetic Usability Effect.The aesthetic usability effect is where a user will perceive an attractive product as easier to use than an ugly one. Human being just like attractive appearance things. If the product looks nice, they assume it works better. This concept has been found true of Mini cooper car. It has few quirks like the speedometer is where the radio should be and the clock is on the ceiling, somehow peole just accept them because the car just looks cool.

Cognitive psychologist Donald Norman has put a lot of effort on investigation on this topic and over and over again the research proves that attractive things simply just work better. For me , I think when usability functional and aesthetic are combined, it creates a win-win situation, a better solution to society. Apple iphone is another great example of this aesthetic usability effect. The iphone has been successfully designed to be aesthetically  appealing as well as a practical product. The clean cut look, light weight, thin in size , and of course the most important is its great function which emphasizes on customer experience, such as smooth function pace, multi-touch interface features. This perfect combination of aesthetic and usability so that leads to many people willing to pay an amount extra just to own an iphone and this just causes iphone achieve a success position, a win win situation.

Conclusion, function and usability always come first before aesthetic.  Beautiful design is always inextricably related to its function. However, combination of these two forms just attain a result, aesthetic usability effect which works better  and  reach another advantage.