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"users perceive your product to be more usable if it's aesthetically pleasing." Of course, in the first 10 seconds or few minutes, but I suspect strongly this

"users perceive your product to be more usable if it's aesthetically pleasing." Of course, in the first 10 seconds or few minutes, but I suspect strongly this effect fades over time. Most UI redesigns are bad because they focus on the wrong things and throw out a lot of good things, or change for the sake of change.

pfranz 8y ago
At a previous job I would see the process of films getting made. After a year of keeping the same joke they'd swap it out with a less funny joke. It's not because the new joke is better, the old joke got tired to them and the new joke was fresh. I see the same thing happen all over the place--branding and UI are very common victims.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  That's a very interesting insight. Music editing has the same issues as well. Even in the short term - over the course of a day your ears can get tired of a specific set of sounds and you don't hear with 'fresh ears'.
- eswat 8y ago
  That’s a cool example. In terms of UI redesigns though, changing things up is definitely more costly in this realm. I probably don’t mind a new skit because I’m just looking to be entertained. But I’m mostly looking to get shit done with something that had an actual UI to it, so freshness can be more hit-or-miss.
thaumasiotes 8y ago
> Of course, in the first 10 seconds or few minutes, but I suspect strongly this effect fades over time. This is part of the general phenomenon of looking for your keys under the lamppost. It's easy to do an experiment that tests how people feel about your new design after looking at it for a minute and a half. Want to compare how people feel about the old and new designs after six months of getting used to them? That will take at least six months.
- ProxCoques 8y ago
  You are confusing aesthetics with usability. Useful tests are not designed to find out how people feel about a design, but whether those people can complete task(s) they need to do with the design. The latter is usually apparent within an hour, and most of the problems surface once you have tested about 5-6 people.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    I'm not confusing anything. Whether people can complete tasks they need to perform is a major influence on how they feel about a design. And where they prefer an approach that makes the task harder rather than easier, that is still valuable information, and the appropriate response can easily be to give them the approach they prefer. But I'm going to disagree that an hour is enough to reveal any advantages and disadvantages that may be present.
  - WalterSear 8y ago
    You are confusing the first time experience with usability. And unless the software is quite simplistic, 5-6 people is just enough to falsely validate the preconceptions of the UX designer.
Jack000 8y ago
if your product is a website, the average time on page is 4.6 seconds [1] (a lot of people bounce immediately, lowering the average) the first 10 seconds of ux is extremely important, since it's basically the top of your funnel. [1] https://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/116966/bounce-rate-and-average-time-on-page-more-analytical-ammunition https://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/11696...
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  Yes, fully agree. However, as people start to actually use the site, I think they care a lot less about a lot of cosmetic things.
  - badfrog 8y ago
    > as people start to actually use the site, I think they care a lot less about a lot of cosmetic things That's definitely true, _if_ they start to actually use the site. You need something to hook them in the first few seconds.

pfranz 8y ago

At a previous job I would see the process of films getting made. After a year of keeping the same joke they'd swap it out with a less funny joke. It's not because the new joke is better, the old joke got tired to them and the new joke was fresh. I see the same thing happen all over the place--branding and UI are very common victims.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
That's a very interesting insight. Music editing has the same issues as well. Even in the short term - over the course of a day your ears can get tired of a specific set of sounds and you don't hear with 'fresh ears'.
eswat 8y ago
That’s a cool example. In terms of UI redesigns though, changing things up is definitely more costly in this realm. I probably don’t mind a new skit because I’m just looking to be entertained. But I’m mostly looking to get shit done with something that had an actual UI to it, so freshness can be more hit-or-miss.

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> Of course, in the first 10 seconds or few minutes, but I suspect strongly this effect fades over time. This is part of the general phenomenon of looking for your keys under the lamppost. It's easy to do an experiment that tests how people feel about your new design after looking at it for a minute and a half. Want to compare how people feel about the old and new designs after six months of getting used to them? That will take at least six months.

ProxCoques 8y ago
You are confusing aesthetics with usability. Useful tests are not designed to find out how people feel about a design, but whether those people can complete task(s) they need to do with the design. The latter is usually apparent within an hour, and most of the problems surface once you have tested about 5-6 people.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  I'm not confusing anything. Whether people can complete tasks they need to perform is a major influence on how they feel about a design. And where they prefer an approach that makes the task harder rather than easier, that is still valuable information, and the appropriate response can easily be to give them the approach they prefer. But I'm going to disagree that an hour is enough to reveal any advantages and disadvantages that may be present.
- WalterSear 8y ago
  You are confusing the first time experience with usability. And unless the software is quite simplistic, 5-6 people is just enough to falsely validate the preconceptions of the UX designer.

Jack000 8y ago

if your product is a website, the average time on page is 4.6 seconds [1] (a lot of people bounce immediately, lowering the average) the first 10 seconds of ux is extremely important, since it's basically the top of your funnel. [1] https://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/116966/bounce-rate-and-average-time-on-page-more-analytical-ammunition https://www.weidert.com/whole_brain_marketing_blog/bid/11696...

sonnyblarney 8y ago
Yes, fully agree. However, as people start to actually use the site, I think they care a lot less about a lot of cosmetic things.
- badfrog 8y ago
  > as people start to actually use the site, I think they care a lot less about a lot of cosmetic things That's definitely true, _if_ they start to actually use the site. You need something to hook them in the first few seconds.