[HN Gopher] The aesthetic usability effect / paradox
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       The aesthetic usability effect / paradox
        
       Author : xrd
       Score  : 21 points
       Date   : 2023-05-06 19:50 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
        
       | bitwize wrote:
       | God damn it, Hotdog Stand made Windows more usable and I'll take
       | that with me to the grave.
       | 
       | Seriously, though, I'm starting to be convinced that a modern UI
       | is a must for usability, and that people on Hackernews who favor
       | e.g., a Windows 9x UI (which I was once one of) don't understand
       | how usability actually works. To be user-friendly, a program must
       | bathe its user in comfort, and dated looks and UI paradigms do
       | not do that.
        
       | lo_zamoyski wrote:
       | Aesthetics is not disjoint from utility. Indeed, there's a
       | convertibility because the utility of a tool is related to its
       | beauty as tools are essentially defined by their utility. A tool
       | that has higher utility is more beautiful according to that
       | measure, whereas one that is mediocre is far less so. There may
       | be decorative aspects that may enhance the beauty of a tool in a
       | way that perhaps does not contribute to utility (though I am not
       | certain this is entirely the case as the function may simply be
       | subtle), or the decorative aspects may be considered beautiful
       | apart from the tool's utility, but the beauty of the tool is not
       | simply decorative. A beautifully machined screw driver of the
       | highest craftsmanship is ugly if it fails to function as a
       | screwdriver.
        
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       (page generated 2023-05-06 23:01 UTC)