Story-Based Design Methods
Aesthetics of interaction moves the focus from ease of use to enjoyment of the experience. (p.1)
As repeatedly said in the reading, aesthetics and interaction are, and should be, tightly interwoven. What users need is not just aesthetics or interaction, but a combination of appearance, interaction, and roles. For example, it is known that aesthetics can create an attractiveness bias which lead a website to have more traffic or more engagement, or can make users more tolerant of usability issues. However, if it only has aesthetics but not interaction, there would be a lower balance rate and it only has a short-term effect, which means good looks cannot completely save a bad product. As the text says, “the aesthetics of a product must be shaped according to its functions and roles, and its interactions must be judged by their aesthetic qualities — both sensory and conceptual.” It is always a good idea to not forget why we are designing it, what users actually want, and how we can make their experiences better.
Devices play a role in their users’ lives, and imply the role of their users: through its appearance, interaction, and functionality, each product tells a story about its user and the relationship between them. (p.1)
If there is no product, there is no user. At the same time, if there is no user, there is no product (or, it would be out of market pretty soon.) I liked this quote because I like to spend my time observing people and thinking about why they chose to get a product in first place. If they have an e-reader, why did they choose an e-reader over physical books? If they always order decaf coffee in the morning but they order caffeinated latte at 7PM, why would they ever do that? Those are just random examples, but I think by starting to think about “what’s behind?” and expand the story, we can get out of the biases we have and create a better user experience.
Designing for prototypical characters such as Jack ignores the full spectrum of human emotions, it only addressed those recognized as socially or culturally desirable. (p.2)
I agree with this statement because the users we are designing products for are not always culturally “desirable.” Those characteristics, emotions, and needs are what makes us human, and should not be disregarded. Frens chose three extreme characters, all “undesirable” in certain way, but to do so he could come up with an innovative product that could expand the use or the target users in future. It reminded me of when I just started to learn about inclusive designs. When we design products for people with permanent disabilities, we would eventually end up helping people with temporary or situational disabilities. That being said, the way Frens tried to innovate a solution for extreme characters help culturally “desirable” characters too.
