Donald Norman has three tea-pots. One is an impossible tea-pot. You simply can’t use it. The other is a chubby, artistic piece that looks beautiful. Third tea-pot is very different. You tilt it and lie it on a flat surface – first to make tea, then to ensure that it does not get darker than your taste.
All three tea-pots are unique and Don loves them.
Which tea-pot does he use for his morning tea?
None of these. He makes his tea just like all of us, using standard utensils.
Functionality and Design are not equal.
Then why do we like beautiful things? A product / website that looks attractive, seems better. High design value is considered to be a symbol of high quality.
Why does that happen?
Because there are deep emotions associated with design.
Go ahead and read about emotions of design. Emotional Design is one of Donald Norman’s bestsellers and is indeed a pleasure to read!
Why do you like beautiful things?
I think design is something which strikes your senses first before your mind can start doing an analysis on it’s usability/functionality.
Also something which has been designed well and served to a customer at times can show the dedication of the team to make it strike with the audience. But of course design should not be used to fool people into buying something which makes no sense at all.