What exactly is usability?

Usability is a measure of how well a user can quickly and efficiently accomplish a task or goal given a certain product or tool.  This product can be anything whether it is a can opener, a computer application, or a website.

Types of Usability: There are many different types of definitions about what exactly is usability. The term is used relatively loosely to describe a couple of things:

1. An attribute of a product or tool (“this website has poor usability”).
2. A process known as usability engineering, which is a design and development methodology putting the user at the center of the project.

For our purposes, all our discussions following this will focus on the first type of usability as it pertains directly to the web.

Elements of Usability: To measure whether or not a website is usable, there are a couple of key attributes that the site must satisfy:

1. Effectiveness – Can users accomplish their goal?  Do they find a purpose for the site?
2. Ease of Learning – How quickly can a new user learn how to use the site?
3. Efficiency – How fast can they accomplish their tasks?
4. Memorability – If a user has already been to the site, can they remember enough in order to reuse the site quickly?
5. Error Prevention – If the system makes an error, how does it recover?  Are there any informative steps to helping the user solve the problem?
6. Satisfaction – How satisfied is the user while he or she is on the site? This is probably the single most important element of usability that is the hardest to measure.

Mental Model: How does one go about creating a site that makes users happy? Well, to start, the site should always revolve around the users, not your company. These users have mental models - preconceived notions or expectations of how things should work or flow. They rely on a set of rules that must be matched.  If we do not match our users’ expectations, they become disappointed, and, therefore, their satisfaction decreases as well.

Information Architecture: After we begin to understand the users’ mental model, we can create an architecture that supports their expectations. Information architecture encompasses the organization and layout of a site.  A well-organized site has navigation that speaks to the user - it allows users to reach their destination in a quick manner without confusing them along the way.

Types of Usability Evaluation Methods
How do we evaluate a site’s usability?  Well, there are many different types of evaluation methods.  However, there are only 2 core ones that pertain to web usability:

1. Expert Review – The quickest way to see where your site is falling short.  It is similar to taking an x-ray before doing surgery.  It allows you to can see what is needed by evaluating the site against research-based principles, minimum standards, best practices, and learned conventions.
2. Usability Testing – Usually the most true to life form of usability evaluation as it takes us upfront and close to the end users themselves. There are two types of usability testing:
   
   Automated – Usually quicker than a moderated usability testing and allows for a more quantitative approach.  It also allows for a wider array of different types of users as well as a greater quantity of users since it is typically conducted online without the extensive need for a facilitator.
   
   Moderated – Users have 1 on 1 sessions with facilitators in which they are asked to accomplish a set of tasks and are then observed by the facilitator. Usually, some sort of screen capturing software is employed to capture the users’ click stream as well as an audio recording of each user’s thoughts and comments as s/he navigates the site.

BusinessOnLine’s Usability Methodology
We take a unique approach to ensuring that a website is created with users in mind first.

Many times, we hear clients worried that their search engine rankings will drop because they are creating a website that is more user friendly - but less search engine friendly.  At BusinessOnLine, however, we have a unique team of experts who work together to ensure that any recommendation we make is good for your users while keeping the spiders happy as well.

We take the intersection of usability, SEO best practices, and your business requirements to create an online strategy that delivers results.  Anyone can conduct a usability test - it is the recommendations that are unique and our methodology is especially what sets us apart from our competitors.