Jakob Nielsen (news item for October 7, 2002) pointed me to a usability report by 3G Labs in which one cell phone was preferred for its aesthetics by most everyone, but after the tasks in the test they overwhelmingly preferred the other. Jakob poses this question:
How can qualities besides appearance be made more salient to shoppers so that people buy products that they will be more satisfied with using?
To me, this question leads to an unnecessary dichotomy between appearance and satisfaction. It is absolutely possible to design a product that both excites users with its physical attributes AND is incredibly usable.
He also seems to blur the actual dichotomy between design and marketing. Marketing materials have one purpose: to sell. If the Sony/Ericsson phone sells more initially, then their marketing worked. I’m willing to bet that the Nokia will sell more over time, however, because these sorts of common consumer items tend to be recommended between friends.
Of course, the other major tool for the sell is price. If the less usable phone is priced below a certain threshold, and is much cheaper than the usable phone, it may sell despite its problems.
