usability

the quality of being able to provide good service

This article is about the human-computer interaction concept. For the ''User Friendly'' webcomics, see User Friendly.''cleanup-dateApril 2005 Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance.In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability usually refers to the elegance and clarity with which the user interface of a computer program or a web site is designed. The term is also used often in the context of products like consumer electronics, or in the areas of communication, and knowledge transfer objects (such as a cookbook, a document or online help). It can also refer to the efficient design of a mechanical objects such as a door handle or a hammer.

Introduction - The primary notion of usability is that objects which are designed with their users' psychology and physiology in mind are, for example:

more efficient to use — it takes less time to accomplish a particular task

easier to learn — operation can be learned by observing the object

more satisfactionsatisfying to useComplex computer systems are finding their way into everyday life, and at the same time the market is becoming saturated with competing brands. This has lead to usability becoming more popular and widely recognised in recent years as companies see the benefits of researching and developing their products with user-oriented instead of technology-oriented methods. By understanding and researching the interaction between product and user, the usability expert can also provide insight that is unattainable by traditional company-oriented market research. For example, after observing and interviewing users, the usability expert may identify needed functionality or design flaws that were not anticipated.In the user-centered designuser-centered design paradigm, the product is designed with its intended users in mind at all times. In the user-driven or ''participatory'' design paradigm, some of the users become actual or de facto members of the design team.The term user friendly is often used as a synonym for ''usable'', though it may also refer to accessibility. The use of terms ''user friendly'' and ''user friendliness'' should be avoided, as there are no widely accepted definitions for them, and they are thus often used without much substance.There is no consensus about the relation of the terms ergonomics (or human factors) and usability. Some think usability as the computer softwaresoftware specialization of the larger topic of ergonomics. Others view these topics as tangential, with ergonomics focusing on physiological matters (i.e. turning a door handle) and usability focusing on psychological matters (i.e. recognising that this door can be opened by turning that handle).

Defining usability - Usability is often associated with the functionalities of the product (cf. ISO definition, below), in addition to being solely a characteristics of the user interface (cf. framework of system acceptability, also below, which separates ''usefulness'' into ''utility'' and ''usability''). For example, an automobile lacking a reverse gear could be considered ''unusable'' according to the former view, and ''lacking in utility'' according to the latter view.

ISO standard - The document ''ISO 9241-11 (1998) Guidance on Usability'' issued by International Organization for Standardization defines usability as::The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use.

Jakob Nielsen's framework of system acceptability - Usability consultant Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)Jakob Nielsen and computer science professor Ben Shneiderman have written (separately) about a framework of system acceptability, where usability is a part of ''usefulness'' and is composed of:

Learnability

Efficiency of use

Memorability

Few and noncatastrophic errors

Subjective satisfaction

Usability considerations - Usability includes considerations such as:

Who are the users, what do they know, and what can they learn?

What do users want or need to do?

What is the general background of the users?

What is the context in which the user is working?

What has to be left to the machine? What to the user?Answers to these can be obtained by conducting user and task analysis at the start of the project.Other considerations include:

Can users easily accomplish their intended tasks? For example, can users accomplish intended tasks at their intended speed?

How much training do users need?

What documentation or other supporting materials are available to help the user? Can users find the solutions they seek in these materials?

What and how many errors do users make when interacting with the product?

Can the user recover from errors? What do users have to do to recover from errors? Does the product help users recover from errors, for example, does software present informative, non-threatening error messages?

Are there provisions for meeting the special needs of users with disabilities? (accessibility)Examples of ways to find answers to these and other questions are: user-focused requirements analysis, building user profiles, and usability testing.Usability is now recognized as an important software quality attribute, earning its place among more traditional attributes such as performance and robustness. Indeed various academic programs focus on usability. dmoz.org Also several dmoz.org - usability consultancy companies have emerged, and traditional consultancy and design firms are offering similar services.

See also -

Usability testing

Internationalization

References -

Norman, Donald A. Title=The Design of Everyday Things Publisher=Basic Books Year=2002 ID=ISBN 0-465-067107

Jakob Nielsen: ''Usability Engineering'', Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, ISBN 0-12-518406-9

Ben Shneiderman: ''Software Psychology'', 1980

External links -

useit.com - Jakob Nielsen on Usability — Alertbox web column, reports, and links by the web usability expert

designbasics.co.uk - Design Basics — an introduction to some of the basics of usability design, mostly by example

interaction-design.org - Interaction-Design.org — an open-content, peer-reviewed Encyclopedia covering terms from the discipline of usability and related fields

usabilityviews.com - Usability Views — a collection of thousands of links to usability related articles.

tc.eserver.org - EServer TC Library: Usability — a web portal with links to more than 1,000 online usability resources

upassoc.org - The Usability Professionals' Association

stcsig.org - Society for Technical Communication's Usability Special Interest Group

baddesigns.com - Bad Human Factors Designs — "A scrapbook of illustrated examples of things that are hard to use because they do not follow human factors principles."

humanfactors.com - Suggested usability links from Human Factors International — include education and research programs, professional certification programs and associations, practice guides and federal standards.

Article "blog.dev.sf.net - Serendipity: Usability Has Five Syllables." by Kris Chapman

worldusabilityday.org - World Usability Day

usability.gov - Usability.gov - Usability basics from the US Department of Health and Human !ServicesCategory:Human-compute r? interactionCategory:Technical !communicationda:Brugervenlighe dde:Benutzerfreundlichkeites:U sabilidadfr:Utilisabilitéit:U ser? !friendlynl:Gebruiksvriendelijk heidja:ユーザビリティpt :Usabilidadefi:Käytettävyyss v:Användarvänligzh:易用性

novacore - new media agency
novacore is a small new media agency from germany. visit our page to see the portfolio. best quality in webdesign, graphicdesign and printmedia
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TandemSeven
TandemSeven designs, prototypes and builds portals and custom e-business applications. We specialize in creating usable, intuitive interfaces for complex applications. Headquartered in the greater Boston area, TandemSeven also has delivery capabilities in Austin, Chicago, Dallas, New York City, San Francisco and Toronto.
http://www.tandemseven.com/

Hans-Jörg Günther
CEO of edditrex ltd, lecturer, author, project manager
http://www.edditrex.de/guenther/

anatom5 perception marketing
Zu den Leistungen der Agentur gehören sowohl die Gestaltung von barrierefreien Internetseiten als auch Seminare und Schulungen in diesem Feld. Zudem ist die Agentur im Bereich Corporate Design und Print tätig.
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Web site maintainence, hosting and design. We take care of all those little fixes and nit-picky changes that drive you crazy.
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Digital Spoke - web design, consultancy & education
We are a web design company, specialising in creative, usable and accessible websites. Focus on charity/educational/non-profit/community organisations.
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WAMMI: Web site ease of use -
WAMMI is a unique service to help web site owners across the world accomplish their business goals by measuring and tracking user reactions to web site ease-of-use.
http://www.wammi.com/

zappo :: [Agentur für Kommunikation]
Von Konzeption über Gestaltung, von Produktion bis Mediaservice, von Webdesign bis Webpublishing - zappo ist bereit, sich den Herausforderungen der Kunden zu stellen.
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Web design and development
Netage Solutions, Inc. Founded: 1998 Employees: 60 Offices: Sofia, New York, Boston, San Francisco, London Key Partnerships: Microsoft Certified Partner Awards: 25 Clients: 125 Projects: 205 Development Expertise Complex web solutions Web Portals Corporate websites Intranets & Extranets E-shops & E-commerce Online media Advertising and Media planning platforms Interactive presentations Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Graphic Usability Interface (GUI) Technical Expertise Protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, TCP/IP Mobile Messaging: WAP Security: SSL for the durable and safe distribution of data over internet and in mobile telecommunications networks, PGP Presentation: XML, CSS, XHTML, DHTML Languages: ASP.NET, PHP, JavaScript Graphical design: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Dream weaver Frameworks: .NET, PHP 5 Database connectivity: ODBC Database Transfer: API Databases: mySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Web server: Apache web server, MS Internet Information Server Operating Systems: MS Windows XP, Unix, Linux Contact Momchil Marinov Account Executive Tel: +3592 960 69 59 Fax: +359 2 960 69 24 E-mail: marinov@netagesolutions.com
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HCI Bibliography
The HCI Bibliography (HCIBIB) is a free-access bibliography on Human-Computer Interaction, with over 33,000 records in a searchable database. HCIBIB.ORG is also one of the premier portals to high-quality information on the development of usable software and Web-based systems.
http://www.hcibib.org/

NOVA-design
NOVA-design is professional Web design company that supplies services of web design and development, web application development, professional e-commerce systems (shopping cart, payment processing integration), Flash multimedia and graphics design.
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Accessibility - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Usability
We provide web site accessibility consulting, search engine optimization (SEO), usability testing & training services.
http://www.webnauts.net/

Useit.com
Jakob Nielsen shares his thoughts on usability.
http://www.useit.com

Usability.gov
Provided by the National Cancer Institute. Includes information and resources on making web sites and other user interfaces more useful, usable, and accessible. News and current publications and additional links are provided.
http://www.usability.gov/

Usable Web
Collection of links and accompanying information about human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific to the World Wide Web.
http://usableweb.com/

Usability Professionals' Association
A network through which usability professionals can communicate and share information about skills and skill development, methodology used and/or proposed in the profession, tools, technology, and organizational issues.
http://www.upassoc.org/

Amazon.com
Departments include books, music, videos, home and garden, electronics, and toys.
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