In Defense of Eye Candy

Stephen P. Anderson in A List Apart, on the importance of aesthetics:

Researchers in Japan setup two ATMs, “identical in function, the number of buttons, and how they worked.” The only difference was that one machine’s buttons and screens were arranged more attractively than the other. In both Japan and Israel (where this study was repeated) researchers observed that subjects encountered fewer difficulties with the more attractive machine. The attractive machine actually worked better.

★ Tuesday, 21 April 2009