Usability is a shaping factor for actual usage, but a user’s impressions of a Web site—about usefulness, ease-of-use, and how enjoyable the experience is—are formed by the Web site’s visual design. In essence, attractiveness directly shapes perceived ease-of-use. Usability experts might argue that a site can be visually unappealing but still just as easy to use, but this doesn’t take into account perceived ease-of-use. Usability experts play an unquestionably important role in making the Web a more friendly place, but to downright reject the idea that design is primary in user experience is misguided.
http://www.digital-web.com/articles/the_designer_is_dead/
En nog uit hetzelfde artikel:
Smiling faces inspire confidence and trust. While by and large overplayed, (corporate) imagery and photography have nonetheless a meaningful purpose in personalizing user experience on Web sites. In a physical environment, the store atmosphere may be more important in selling a product than the product itself. Intangible feelings and emotions in experiencing the Web site coincide with, and may even dominate, the tangible product purchase.
