Michael R. Faddis

Sometimes Fashion Trumps Usability

Via Serco: “A while back, we studied two versions of a mobile phone menu screen. The first showed 12 icons, each with a name underneath it. The second showed the same 12 icons but without names. All the people who tried the two versions were much more successful using the version with the names. But they greatly and unanimously preferred the version without the names. Why? The version without the names was more fashionable-looking at the time than the version with names. And because the version without the names wasn’t too difficult to use, fashion trumped usability.”