The Aesthetic Usability Effect
Why Good Design Might Be Fooling You
There’s a well-documented phenomenon in user experience called the aesthetic usability effect, the idea that users perceive attractive interfaces as more usable, even when they’re not (Kurosu & Kashimura, 1995). It’s the reason why a beautifully designed learning platform can feel intuitive even when it hides essential functions. It’s also why a cluttered but highly functional tool might be abandoned before anyone gives it a chance.
In short: how something looks affects how we think it works.
And this matters deeply to those of us working in learning and development, because so much of what we create, content, platforms, tools, is judged first by how it feels to use, not just by what it helps people do.
This article explores what the aesthetic usability effect means for L&D, and how we can balance visual design with real-world usefulness.
When polish hides poor design
We’ve all seen it. The “new” learning platform that looks slick but is a nightmare to navigate. The resource hub that won a design award but takes four clicks to reach anything meaningful. The onboarding course that matches the brand perfectly, but forgets to explain how to do the actual job.
The trouble is, most people won’t complain. If something looks clean, modern, or "nice," learners will often give it the benefit of the doubt, at least at first. They’ll assume it’s their fault if they can’t find something. They’ll click around awkwardly, wondering if they’ve misunderstood.
And when they finally give up, they rarely blame the design. They just disengage quietly.
This is the aesthetic usability effect in action. It’s seductive. And it can give us a false sense of success, especially when early feedback focuses on the appearance of a tool or resource rather than how it functions in practice (Sonderegger & Sauer, 2010).
Why this matters more in performance support than content
When you’re designing a resource intended to support performance in the flow of work, a checklist, a quick guide, a reference tool, aesthetics must never be allowed to overtake speed, clarity, or accessibility.
That beautiful slide deck might be impossible to scan in the moment someone needs to double-check a safety step. That gorgeously animated interface might introduce just enough delay to make the help page unusable on the shop floor.
Aesthetics can be helpful. They can reduce friction, create trust, and reinforce brand. But if they get in the way of efficiency, they are failing their most important test.
As Nielsen Norman Group put it: “Users’ first impressions are 94% design-related. But they stay for the content and leave when the design impedes them.” (NNG, 2022)
So what do we do?
This is not a call to strip everything back to grey boxes and Arial. Aesthetics matter. They help with attention, engagement, even perceived clarity. But they must never be allowed to stand in for function.
If we want to avoid being fooled by design gloss, we need to approach it like an experiment. Here are a few practical ways to balance aesthetic appeal with usability:
1. Watch people use it, not just comment on it
Get feedback from real users doing real tasks. If someone says, “It looks great,” your next question should be, “Did it help you do what you needed to do, quickly and clearly?” If the answer is no, the gloss is hiding a crack.
2. Test ugly prototypes
Before investing time in high-fidelity design, test the layout and flow in the simplest possible format — plain text, wireframes, Post-its. If it works when it’s ugly, it’ll work when it’s pretty. If it only works once the brand team has had a go, you may have a usability issue.
3. Design for worst-case conditions
Assume someone is tired, distracted, or on a terrible connection. Ask: does the thing still work? If it doesn’t, no amount of aesthetic polish will save it.
4. Use aesthetic design to guide, not distract
Aesthetics should direct attention, support scanning, and make important things obvious. It should never just decorate. Ask yourself: what visual cues actually help the learner move through this experience more easily?
In a world where L&D increasingly blends design, tech, and content, the temptation to overvalue beauty is real. But usefulness must always come first.
Attractive things may feel easier to use. But that doesn’t make them effective.
And if learners are clicking through lovely screens but walking away with nothing, then the only thing we’re optimising is illusion.
The aesthetic usability effect is not the enemy. But it is a mirror. It reminds us that perception is powerful, and that good design should always serve performance, not just polish.
There’s no point in a learning resource that doesn’t work. I tend to go the other way with my resources and make them too utilitarian!