In the November 30th, 2003 New York Times Magazine, their annual design issue (you can tell how busy I’ve been by quoting last year’s news), there was an interview with Niels Diffrient, an office chair designer who worked under Henry Dreyfuss and Eero Saarinen, both pioneers of human-factors engineering (known as ergonomics, in furniture). Here’s an excerpt of the interview that brought to mind the usability specialists that are only interested in the data, with no regard to the beauty of the subject (harder to quantify aesthetic appeal with data).

For something as technical as ergonomics, where does the inspiration come from?
The nature of inspiration includes the understanding of all the factors necessary to design. It’s like a physicist trying to bring together a comprehensive theory of the universe. You can’t leave anything out. Academics in human-factors engineering are only interested in the data. I’m looking to find out how the data may be used to improve a situation. Why would you design something if it didn’t improve the human condition?