User Experience Design: Aesthetics or Functionality?
Ali Türkyılmaz, Simge Kantar, Muhammet Enis Bulak, Özgür Uysal · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · 2015
Most of the time, just designing a perfect looked interface is not enough for users to use it properly. Generally designers tend to consider the things from their own side, but in order to design a useful interface, they need to see the process through users’ eyes. The purpose of the User Experience (UX) is to increase customer satisfaction and sales by providing the largest ease of use, benefit and enjoy for users. A product can only exist as long as it fulfills the user’s needs with its functionality. On the other hand importance of aesthetics cannot be ignored. It is the visual interaction and attractiveness which make a connection between user and product. In this paper, it is planned to investigate the importance of (and also relationship between) functionality and aesthetics of (web) interfaces from the eyes of users. A survey designed to measure different aspects of aesthetics and functionality is conducted to 41 web users. The results supported with statistical and managerial implications provide useful information for product managers, designers and also for users.