more about UI aesthetics, but interesting point on how “discussion about design quality or even usability is often about aesthetics”
Jacob Nielsen: “simplicity means that users get what they came for” (the lack of complexity)
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (18th century aesthetician): “beauty is plurality in simplicity” but actually in software plurality can almost always amount to confusion (DRY, loose coupling)
she says ugliness connotes effectiveness (??? like audacity or vlc?)