Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Users often perceive aesthetically pleasing design as design that's more usable.
Key Takeaways
An aesthetically pleasing design creates a positive response in people's brains and leads them to believe the design actually works better.
People are more tolerant of minor usability issues when the design of a product or service is aesthetically pleasing.
Visually pleasing design can mask usability problems and prevent issues from being discovered during usability testing.
Origin
The aesthetic-usability effect was first studied in the field of human-computer interaction in 1995. Researchers Masaaki Kurosu and Kaori Kashimura from the Hitachi Design Center tested 26 variations of an ATM UI, asking 252 participants to rate each design on ease of use and aesthetic appeal. They found a stronger correlation between aesthetic appeal and perceived ease of use than between aesthetic appeal and actual ease of use — meaning users are strongly influenced by the aesthetics of an interface even when evaluating its functionality.