TIME Magazine just crowned the iPhone as the best invention of 2007 (see Invention Of the Year: The iPhone). I know what you're thinking, and I thought the same thing: can we please stop talking about the iPhone now? Well, almost. But let me just quote one thing from the article. The author gives 5 reasons why the iPhone deserves this honor, and the first one is this (emphasis added by me):
The iPhone is pretty
Most high-tech companies don't take design seriously. They treat it as an afterthought. Window-dressing. But one of Jobs' basic insights about technology is that good design is actually as important as good technology. All the cool features in the world won't do you any good unless you can figure out how to use said features, and feel smart and attractive while doing it.
An example: look at what happens when you put the iPhone into "airplane" mode (i.e., no cell service, WiFi, etc.). A tiny little orange airplane zooms into the menu bar! Cute, you might say. But cute little touches like that are part of what makes the iPhone usable in a world of useless gadgets. It speaks your language. In the world of technology, surface really is depth.
I think Apple is showing us all the good usability can look great too. They understand that it's not just about accomplishing your goal, but also about feeling "smart and attractive" in the process. I think as usability professionals we often feel constrained by design, as if design stands in the way of making something truly usable. Let's go beyond that -- let's keep the usability great and make it pretty...
1 comment:
I read somewhere that things that "look good, work better".
As much as I want to believe that isn't true... I hate to admit it is.
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