Beauty in Usability:Forget about Ease of Use!

A new approach based on respect for the user is offered on those neglected aspects of human-product interaction: perceptual-motor and emotional skills, allowing for rich aesthetics of interaction.

Abstract

Despite years of usability research, electronic products do not seem to get any easier to use. The design of electronic products appears to be in a dead-end street. It is time to experiment with fresh approaches. In this paper we offer a new approach based on respect for the user. We all have senses and a body with which we can respond to what our environment affords (Gibson, 1979). Why, then, does interaction design not use these bodily skills more often and make electronic interaction more tangible? And, as humans are emotional beings, why not make interaction a more fun and beautiful experience? This paper focuses on those neglected aspects of human-product interaction: perceptual-motor and emotional skills. First we give the new background against which the designer operates. Then we give a number of examples from our own and our studentsO research work. As we go along we make clear why this new approach calls for new methods and what these methods are. The point we wish to make is that to get to new innovative products, the interaction problem should be dealt with on the level of creating a context for experience allowing for rich aesthetics of interaction.