Comments on: Why Usability Folks Don’t Focus on Visuals in Design

By: Dave P

Dave P — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

We talk of being either “conservative” or “liberal”…

Not to flamebait, since that’s not my purpose, but very few people outside of the US actually think this way…

Just injecting perspective… great article as per.

By: Josh

Josh — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You’re right, Dave. Of course. Thanks for reminding me. The U.S. elections aren’t fading as fast as they could be…

By: Dave

Dave — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just thoguht I’d add my take here. http://synapticburn.com/ This is a response to Dirk.

I think your major flaw is that “ease of use” is the primary goal. It is an aspect of the goal, but not the primary goal.

I do think you are right that usability professionals don’t consider Visuals (or presentation in general) b/c they can’t measure it. But just b/c it can’t be measured, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value or import. Also, just b/c usability professionals can’t measure the value of presentation doesn’t mean that others can’t. Advertising specialists have been doing this for generations.

By: Josh

Josh — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Dave H. (comment #3): If you mean that ease-of-use is not always the primary goal for the overall project, I heartily agree. To a usability practitioner, however, I would argue that ease-of-use is almost always the goal. (I wrote this post from the usability perspective)

As for measuring visuals, I’d really like to hear more about how advertisers measure them. Care to elaborate? Are you talking about A-B testing?

By: patrick h. lauke

patrick h. lauke — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

outstanding little article, and i agree wholeheartedly. i’ve been having similar discussions in the “accessibility vs design” discussions, and it’s refreshing for me to read about them in other fields as well.

“…we do have the same goals, after all. That goal is to make great things for others to use and enjoy.”

one would hope that this holds true all the time, but i have to admit to having encountered my fair share of purely visual designers that are more interested in self-gratifying graphic masturbation, and spare little to no time thinking about their audience (and i should know, being a graphic designer – at least by education – myself)…

By: michael A

michael A — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Usability is a form of design. It is so plain we overlook it. I wonder if the focus might be on the effects of Blogs on design. They all have “the look” and some of beautiful, but this and Web Standards seem far more influencial.