AESTHETICS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Motivation and Future Research Directions

Researchers in the fields of management information systems (MIS) and humancomputer interaction (HCI) have largely ignored the aesthetic dimension of information technology. This paper argues that aesthetics should be conceived as an integral part of information technology just as it is in other aspects of our lives. Four reasons are provided for this premise: (1) In many cases, aesthetics becomes a major differentiating factor between IT products; (2) our evaluations of the environment, including IT, are primarily visual; (3) aesthetics satisfies basic human needs, and human needs are increasingly supplied by information technology; and (4) aesthetic considerations are becoming increasingly important in our society, in large part thanks to IT. The paper proposes research directions for the study of aesthetics in information technology and provides some examples of research questions to illustrate the viability of this topic.