The Aesthetic Appeal of Productivity will Lie in its Efficiency

The Aesthetic Appeal of Productivity will Lie in its Efficiency

=====================================================

In the ever-evolving world of work, a new heuristic for evaluating the quality of output is gaining traction - beauty and elegance. This shift towards aesthetics in work is rooted in the concept of "pretty privilege" or the "beauty premium," which suggests that people tend to pay more for attractive objects and treat attractive people better.

If your work lacks beauty, consider adding it to increase its perceived value. The author of this article, a psychology SME consultant in EdTech with a focus on AI cognition and Behavioral Engineering, suggests that this could be beneficial.

Making work easy to understand and giving it a good structure can also increase the "beauty" in work. This is because if work is easy to understand, it is naturally more beautiful.

But what constitutes beauty in work? The author proposes six forms of beauty that can become the heuristic for evaluating the quality of work:

1. Natural Beauty – preserving or showcasing elements from nature such as stars, mountains, or rivers.
2. Artistic Beauty – creative expression through various art forms and breaking conventional rules.
3. Ethical Beauty – embedding empathy, kindness, and ethical considerations that evoke emotional value.
4. Cognitive Beauty – technological innovations and elegant problem-solving, including clever algorithms and new ideas.
5. Wabi-Sabi – embracing imperfections and organic errors that make creations feel authentic and human.
6. Narrative Beauty – crafting cohesive stories and brand identities that connect meaningfully with people.

These beauties serve as heuristics of value, meaning if any of them is present in a work product, it generally increases its value in the eyes of users or customers, allowing for a higher premium to be charged. For example, marketing strategies benefit from narrative beauty, programming from wabi-sabi, consulting proposals from ethical beauty, and video or photography from natural beauty.

Research has shown that people find beautiful designs more intuitive and are more willing to use them. Beauty is found to substitute and crowd out the core functions of a product or service when assigning value quickly.

The author's website, which features articles that are referenced and featured in NY Times, Forbes, CNET, and Entrepreneur, among other books & research papers, also includes articles on topics such as increasing productivity, the impact of mental health on productivity, the origins of our sense of beauty, and the brain's role in productivity. It also delves into subjects like employee mood and emotional activation at work.

The claim is made that beauty in work output will fetch more money than perfectly acceptable deliverables without beauty. However, it's important to note that this does not mean that technical excellence or functional efficiency should be sacrificed for aesthetics. Instead, it's about striking a balance between the two.

The author is currently studying Korean at Seoul National University and is based in Pune, India but living in Seoul, S. Korea. They have studied at NIMHANS Bangalore, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Fergusson College, and are affiliated with IIM Ahmedabad.

Beauty is proposed as a new variable to use as a metric for value because it is a timeless candidate and can latch on to the sensory, emotional, and cognitive aspects of an output. By embracing beauty in our work, we can not only create more appealing outputs but also command a higher premium for our services.

1. The shift towards aesthetics in work is based on the idea of "pretty privilege" or the "beauty premium," suggesting that attractive objects and people are often valued more.
2. Adding beauty to your work can increase its perceived value, according to a psychology SME consultant specializing in AI cognition and Behavioral Engineering.
3. Structuring work in a way that makes it easy to understand can enhance its beauty and value.
4. There are six forms of beauty in work, including natural beauty, artistic beauty, ethical beauty, cognitive beauty, wabi-sabi, and narrative beauty.
5. Beauty in work can elevate a product's or service's value, making it more appealing to users or customers and potentially commanding a higher premium.
6. Marketing strategies, programming, consulting proposals, and video or photography can all benefit from different forms of beauty.
7. Research indicates that people find beautiful designs more intuitive and are more likely to use them.
8. Beauty serves as a heuristic of value, often substituting and crowd out the core functions of a product or service when assigning value quickly.
9. The author's website covers a wide range of topics, including increasing productivity, the impact of mental health on productivity, the origins of our sense of beauty, and the brain's role in productivity.
10. Employee mood and emotional activation at work are also addressed on the author's website.
11. Striking a balance between technical excellence, functional efficiency, and aesthetics is crucial when applying beauty as a metric for value in work output.

Read also: