“Usability” is how well users can learn to use a product and how quickly and easily they can accomplish tasks & how satisfied they are with the process. Usability also considers cost-effectiveness & usefulness.
A key methodology for carrying out usability is called User Centered Design. User Centered Design (UCD) is a “structured product development methodology” that involes users in all stages of development, in order to create a product that meets users’ needs.
Usability Measures-
Ease of learning – How fast a user who has never used the site before can learn it well enough to accomplish tasks
Efficiency of use – How fast the user can accomplish tasks having learned the system
Memorability – Having used the system before, how well the user remembers it without having to start over and learn it again
Error frequency and severity – How serious and often users make errors and how users recover from these errors
Subjective satisfaction – How much the user likes using the system
Usability Defined-
Two international standards definitions for “usability” and “human-centered design”-
1. “[Usability refers to] 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 user.” – ISO 9241-11
2. “Human-centered design is characterized by: the active involvement of users and a clear understanding of user and task requirements; an appropriate allocation of function between users and technology; the iteration of design solutions; multi-disciplinary design.” – ISO 13407
source:
www.usability.gov
- Analysis
Analyze everything that has an impact on your site, paying special attention to your users and their needs.
- Prototype
At various stages of designing, a prototype (a representation of the final site tho’ it isn’t finished) should be made and used for testing. That way usability issues are detected early and easily corrected.
- Evaluate
The designs should be evaluated and enhanced as often as needed. This way a high standard of usability can be ensured.
- Design
Build designs according to usability guidelines. It is important to evaluate the design to criteria of effectiveness and efficiency. This way it can be tested and enhanced until the desired degree of usability is met.
- Site Build
Build the site using “standards compliant valid coding”.(your guess is more or less as bad as mine) to develop a good, useful site.
- Post-Launch
After the site was launched, ongoing usability checks should be performed. Additionally, user feedback gives a great opportunity to further enhance the site.
Cribbed from
www.enhance.ie/usability.php
