Furthermore, beauty and user experience are totally orthogonal. Beauty often distracts from user experience, in my experience: case in point, the OS X Dock.

One example: A few weeks ago, Seth Godin said that salespeople should dress up sharply. I don't condone slovenly appearance, but I have worked with way too many salespeople who spend way too much time worrying about their appearance etc. They're going overboard on their “signaling”.

In the end, they are not half as effective as a simply-dressed effective communicator who knows their product.

Another example: Vista. They have spent way too much time tweaking the user interface, relatively speaking. What's the point?

I feel beauty is one — and a very small — part of the usability equation.

A lot of the awesome interface ideas that emerged in the 90s — such as the original Palm devices — had the right balance of technology, ease-of-use and “beauty”.

There is a danger that the tough economic times may increase focus on “beauty” at the expense of simplicity and usability.

Did TiVo need a uniquely-shaped remote to advance their core business of digitally recording and time-shifting television? No, but it enhanced the overall experience. (I know people with DVRs provided by their cable company who went out and bought TiVos separately because the experience is so much better.)

Of course “beauty” can’t compensate for underlying cruddiness. But given the choice between “good” and “good AND beautiful”, I think product owners often underestimate how powerful the latter is.

Furthermore, beauty and user experience are totally orthogonal. Beauty often distracts from user experience, in my experience: case in point, the OS X Dock.

One example: A few weeks ago, Seth Godin said that salespeople should dress up sharply. I don’t condone slovenly appearance, but I have worked with way too many salespeople who spend way too much time worrying about their appearance etc. They’re going overboard on their “signaling”.

In the end, they are not half as effective as a simply-dressed effective communicator who knows their product.

Another example: Vista. They have spent way too much time tweaking the user interface, relatively speaking. What’s the point?

I feel beauty is one — and a very small — part of the usability equation.

A lot of the awesome interface ideas that emerged in the 90s — such as the original Palm devices — had the right balance of technology, ease-of-use and “beauty”.

There is a danger that the tough economic times may increase focus on “beauty” at the expense of simplicity and usability.