What is Usability
The usability of a Web site forms the total interaction a user has with the site. This includes everything from the page elements, page layout, and the navigation models through a Web site.
Let’s take for example, shopping in a department store. If you become lost or can’t find help in the store, you will tend to move on to the next store or to a store in which you feel comfortable shopping. These are the same feelings that users will experience with a Web site.
In a survey by Boston Consulting Group it was shown that 65% of online shoppers abandon their filled shopping basket without purchasing. While Yankee Group reports that 77% of US Internet users abandon their online shopping carts before executing their transactions.
Why Focus on Usability
In the online scenario, if it is difficult for the user to navigate, make a transaction, find the information they need, or the site has non-standard and inconsistent navigation models, they will abandon the site. The user will judge a Web site’s usefulness in a matter of seconds. Efficiency is everything when it comes to the user.
Many organizations Web sites suffer from taking an open-ended approach to design and development. Developers also fail to consider goals that focus on the organization’s business functions. If they do not consider the users needs and the organization’s ultimate goals, users will not have a positive experience on the Web site and it will be impossible for an organization to measure its success.
According to a report from Forrester Research Inc., design changes geared towards usability do better than pay for themselves; they boost revenue, cut customer service costs, and make the site itself more efficient.
Achieving the Usability Goal
There are two types of design for usability, User-driven and User-centric. Each design focuses on organizing the site architecture in a way that leads your users directly to the sections of content that interest them.
Achieving this usability goal for a Web site is often a compromise between technology versus the technological level of your intended audience and not the audience itself. For example, your target audience may have a slow Internet connection or a low-end browser with no plug-ins, which will lead to long download times and a non-displayable design if a site is heavy in graphics. Or they could have a fast Internet connection and a high-end browser with plug-ins, which would allow for more innovative design interfaces and heavy graphics.
Given these considerations, it is important to determine your target audience and develop an interface that accommodates your users needs. The entire user interface should consider all aspects of user interaction, and is only one piece of the puzzle to achieving this usability goal.
The usability of your site can be the difference between the success and failure with your users. With careful planning and application, achieving an aesthetically appealing interface can greatly improve the usefulness of your Web site and ensure its success.
Remember people don’t tend to notice the implementation of usability concepts, only the lack of them.
