Ux and Usability
In the previous article, I introduced the concept of User Experience. UX and usability are not the same thing. In the next paragraphs, you will understand why.
Peter Morville‘s “UX honeycomb” graphic, shows that a product or service takes on value if it is:
- Useful: Is it useful? Does it meet the real needs of users? Is search the right solution? Will it help our users achieve their goals? And, given the state of technology, should we revisit our goals? Can search be more?
- Usable: Does the product have good usability? Is it easy to use with maximum efficiency and minimal error? Are there affordances for novice and expert searchers? Are there gentle slopes to support learning?
- Desirable: Is it satisfying to use? Does it make people want to search? Does it embody the values and identity of your brand? Does search leverage the power of emotional design?
- Findable: Can users find your site? Can they find their way around your site? Can they find your content despite your site? Is search aligned with search engine optimization?
- Accessible: Will it work for all users? Are features and results accessible to blind and visually impaired users? Can people search from a wide variety of platforms and browsers?
- Credible: Does the design inspire trust? Do the order and display of results convey authority? Will users believe that the top results are the best or most popular or most relevant?
- Valuable: What is the value of the search? Does it build the bottom line or advance the mission? Is the User Experience aligned with strategy? Can search confer a competitive advantage?
Definition of Usability
Let’s explore the concepts of UX and Usability.
According to the ISO 9241-210 definition, the User Experience concerns “all aspects of the user experience while interacting with the product, service, environment or function”.
The ISO 9241-11 definition explains that usability is “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”.
Usability deals with the ease-of-use of users, and also about user satisfaction. In fact, for a website to be usable, it has to be engaging and aesthetically pleasing, too. Moreover, usability is important because if users cannot achieve their goals efficiently, effectively and in a satisfactory manner, they are likely to seek an alternative solution to reach their goals. This means that If your Website, your app, or product is not usable, user UX will be bad, and users will leave you for your competitors.
Usability is the outcome of a user-centered design process. It is an iterative process that examines how and why a client uses a product and seeks to evaluate that use.
Five principles of Usability
According to Jacob Nielsen, a product must meet five principles to be usable:
- Learnability: How easy is it for users to learn how to use a product and complete tasks the first time they are in front of it?
- Efficiency: How quickly are users able to perform actions after having seen and known the product?
- Memorability: When users reuse a product after a period of inactivity, how easily are they able to use it with the same skill as before?
- Errors: How many mistakes do users make and how easily can they be remedied?
- Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the product or service?