Beauty is like phyllo dough.
In researching the aesthetics of interaction design, I’m at the part where I’m trying to articulate what makes an interaction beautiful on the cognitive/emotional level (I have beauty for the other five senses pretty much figured out). I think this is the aspect of interaction design that really sets it apart from the other design disciplines, where aesthetic elements appeal to our dominant sense: vision. In interaction design, however, the cognitive/emotional affect may be more important in defining the overall beauty of a product or system. Donald Norman writes about the three levels of cognition/emotion, which helps enlighten my proposal. First, he talks about the long held assumption that beauty does not affect function, quoting Herbert Read, a scholar of art and aesthetics:
It requires a somewhat mystical theory of aesthetics to find any necessary connection between beauty and function.
Norman responds with:
Emotions, as we now know, change the way the human mind solves problems – the emotional system changes how the cognitive system operates. So, if aesthetics would change our emotional state, that would explain the mystery.
Then he goes on to assert his theories on the three levels of emotional processing:
The visceral level is fast: it makes rapid judgements of what is good or bad, safe or dangerous, and sends appropriate signals to the muscles and alerts the rest of the brain.
The behavioral level can analyze a situation and alter behavior accordingly. The behavioral level in human beings is especially valuable for well-learned, routine operations.
The reflective level is at the highest developmental level. This is the home of reflection, of conscious thought, of the learning of new concepts, and generalizations about the world.
Talking to Will about this the other night, I mentioned how the aesthetics for these emotional levels would be found in human relationships. What makes a relationship beautiful? Things like communication, forgiveness, honor, respect, trust, and morals. These also make an interaction beautiful.
Our products and services need to treat us like lovers and best friends, with aesthetic elements that are multilayered and multidimensional. Spanning the five senses and penetrating cognitive and emotional hierarchies.