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Equilibrium...

When it comes to the hardware and software I use, I like it to have good looks and functionality. If one is missing, it's a deal breaker for me.

Since I'm going to be looking at it on daily basis, I don't want it to be an eye sore. And it has to be functional to be able to do some work on it, without having any component getting in the way.

A good design should combine both, good looks and functionality, in one package. To be honest, I'd always would pick functionality over looks but I want both if I can have them. Functionality makes is easy to do the tasks I've to do, and good looks makes me happy to be doing what I'm doing.

Yet, it seems that most of the time we have to select one over the other. Which is a shame, since both concepts can go hand in hand without diminishing the final product.

Sadly on the open source software community there is a tendency to fall on the utilitarian side, giving the aesthetics side little thought at best. It can be problem with many users, since not giving enough good looks can persuade many to overlook a piece of great software just because it didn't look good.

Making software look good, can bring users to it because they find it far easier to use and they like working on it. But just making it look pretty is also bad, since without functionality it would still be a piece of useless software.

Form should follow function, but there's always a way to making it look good. Striking the right balance is what separates good software, from great software that people actually want to use.

Arriving to the right balance, is more art that science. But, it can be achieved and getting there should be part of the goal.

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