“This leads to an aesthetics of interaction, in which the emphasis shifts from an aesthetically controlled appearance to an aesthetically controlled interaction, of which appearance is a part. Aesthetics of interaction moves the focus from ease of use to enjoyment of the experience [4].”(pp. 1)
This excerpt explains why aesthetics are central to design - because they make the experience enjoyable. However, I don’t see enjoyability and usability as two separate things that need to be balanced, but rather that an enjoyable experience is actually easier to use. If product A is aesthetically pleasing and product B is not, and those are the only two differences, then product A is also more usable, because the boredom that B generates makes it more difficult to use.
"Interaction relabelling also helps in exploring roles. Different styles of interaction suggest different things about users and how they value the product."(pp. 2)'.
This excerpt implies that I should go through many relabeling exercises with a wide range of objects. I also think that I should consider my user and their attitude toward the interaction of task, and choose an object for relabeling that reflects that attitude.
“The Pope turned out to be a difficult character as his remoteness from the world made him difficult to identify with ... Frens chose to develop the concept for the twenty-year old’s appointment fan further.”(pp. 5)
I chose this excerpt to represent the section in which Frans chooses a concept that he’s going to work with from his original three. This was the one part of the reading that makes me a little skeptical of this technique. The whole benefit of designing for extreme characters is to broaden the imagination and the understanding of what is and is not possible in the design. However, Frans had to eliminate the first two concepts because the characters were actually too extreme, and he ended up choosing the design that was for the more realistic character. This might show a pitfall of designing for extreme characters.
