Aesthetics
Why Aesthetics? | How You Can Achieve Aesthetic Appeal | Aesthetics on the Web
Aesthetic appeal concerns the overall appearance of an application. You deal with these issues at a relatively late stage of the development process. For users, however, it is important from the beginning. It can determine users' opinions of your application and whether they like it or not.
Why Aesthetics?
Aesthetics has several aspects in application design. It serves as a motivational factor as well as an organizational factor. Both factors eventually contribute to efficiency.
Motivation: People consider aesthetics as a basic need. They like to work in environments that meet at least basic aesthetic requirements. They dislike ugly environments. As a result, they are more motivated and perform better if their aesthetic needs are met.
Trust: Though trust is more a psychological issue, it is nonetheless very important for the relationship between users and the software they use. This is especially true on the Web. A high quality visual design builds up trust in an application while a dull, and even more a flawed, visual design reduces trust. This phenomenon can also be applied to other aspects of interface design, such as terminology and errors. Bugs, jargon, and typos considerably decrease users' trust in an application and their motivation to use it.
Organization: Though it is still unclear, which factors lead to an aesthetic design, or how to measure aesthetics, it is well established that an aesthetic design is usually better organized than an unaesthetic one. A better organized spatial layout of screen elements helps people to find information or functions easier and faster, thus leading to a better performance.
How You Can Achieve Aesthetic Appeal
As long as only the screen layout is involved, follow the guidelines for screen design. Especially, respect the Gestalt laws that act as "unconscious information organizers." A simple rule to follow is: Place together, what belongs together. Use enough white space to separate elements, and do not cram up your screens.
If graphic design is involved, as is the case with Web applications, incorporate professional designers into the development team or let external graphic designers do the art work. Do not try to be a designer yourself!
Aesthetics on the Web
A Website or application is the showcase of a company or institution on the Web. To a high degree, its success depends on aesthetic criteria. Aesthetic appeal is most important for the first encounter or encounters with a Website, but it is also important in the long. A well-designed Website stimulates motivation. It also serves to improve efficiency, because users will navigate the site better, get the desired information, and do their tasks faster.
Source: Simplifying for Usability