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UI/UX
The Psychology of Beautiful: Exploring the Power of the Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Look at these two websites below. Which one makes you want to stay longer?
As a front-end developer, I would elegantly describe the first website as a UI/UX abomination and praise the second one.
It's aesthetically pleasing even when looking at the second website in isolation. The layout is clean and straightforward, and no loud or poorly contrasting colours distract you from the content. It portrays a sense of elegance and simplicity.
However, specific usability issues are just hidden underneath the visually pleasing surface.
In a study conducted just last year, Harvard ranked the lowest in usability among two other universities: Oxford University and the University of Cape Town.
When asked to locate the university’s history, participants involved in the study found it significantly challenging to complete the task. They spent extended time dwelling on other pages before successfully locating the university’s history.
Yet, to casual website viewers, the issues aren’t so apparent, and dare I say, may even be forgivable.
What is the Aesthetic-Usability Effect?
The aesthetic-usability effect is a UI/UX principle that dictates that applications that are perceived to be more beautiful are, in turn, perceived to be more usable.
In 1995, researchers Masaaki Kurosu and Kaori Kashimura conducted a study in which they asked 252 participants to evaluate 26 different ATM user interfaces. The participants were asked to rate each design based on its aesthetic appeal and ease of use and then observed the actual ease of use for each design.
Interestingly, they found a stronger correlation between the participants’ ratings of aesthetic appeal and perceived ease of use than the correlation between their ratings of aesthetic appeal and actual ease of use.
