Usability…why are you all alone?
I have talked about this before and will continue to find it frustrating that it often feels that usability gets overlooked. The other quality attributes seem to get a lot of buy in. I wonder sometimes if usability is confused with accessibility. They do have some overlap, however, they *are* different.
The web accessibility initiative explains what usability is about “Usability is about designing products to be effective, efficient and satisfying”. The use of each of the words is perfect. Let’s have a look at the definitions of these words.
Effective = successful in producing a desired or intended result.
Efficient = achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense
Satisfying = giving fulfilment or the pleasure associated with it
This might be a good way to start exploring usability. You could split a page into three sections. Effective, efficient and satisfying.
There’s a good book called the design of everyday things with a red tea pot on it. Let’s use this as an example.
Effective — Can I do my task with ease — pour a cup of tea? (No, I’m going to spill it over myself and burn my hand).
Efficient — Can I pour my cup of tea in a reasonable amount of time? (No, it feels awkward to use and it takes a lot of time to miss spilling it everywhere).
Satisfying — Do I enjoy using this tea pot? (No, it causes me great frustration!).
