Usability and You

When we talk about usability in web design, we are talking about the overall ease and comfort with which site visitors can complete the tasks associated with a given website. From simply finding the information they are looking for, to completing a purchase - how easy is it for visitors to do what they need to do on the site?

Various elements contribute to site usability, including:

• Familiarity - does the website use common, familiar navigation - will the user find the site easy to move around in?
• Easy to learn - is the site designed to make it as easy as possible for new visitors to figure out?
• Efficiency - is the site logically designed so that users can quickly complete desired/required tasks?
• Memorable - does the site design make it easy for a returning visitor to remember how it works?
• Error Frequency - how often do site users make mistakes - how much of a problem does an error create and how difficult is it for the site user to recover and get back on track after making a mistake? Has every effort been made to minimize errors and their consequences?
• User Satisfaction - the fun factor...is the site enjoyable to use?

There are a lot of good reasons to strive for more usable sites. The most important reason from a web designer's perspective is this - people prefer usable websites and people come back to usable websites. This means more traffic and more business for your clients, which translates into happier clients. Creating user-friendly websites just makes good business sense.



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