Usability is a Competitive Edge
A perfectly available system that functions
correctly every time can still not achieve reliable results for
users if they can't figure out how to use it. From the
perspective of the person in front of the application, not being
able to figure out a feature generates greater dissatisfaction than
if the feature wasn't even there.
While availability and functionality issues
are usually viewed as software defects, usability issues are often
not viewed as a failure at all: The user simply didn't do
something or did something wrong.
When measuring usability, we measure the rate
at which users are able to successfully achieve their objectives not
the rate at which the system successfully completes requests.
Key Questions
- Do you hear your team justify problems
as being caused by users?
- How do you know that users are using the
system correctly?
- Are they finding the features you have?
Establishing User Context
What separates good products from outstanding
products is the attention to the little details of usability.
When everything comes together correctly, your system has a uniform
set of behaviors that users naturally embrace.
We work with your development team and
internal stakeholders to evolve the style guide for your
applications. This creates a set of rules which can be easily
applied during ongoing development and upgraded as new needs arise.
The exercise of defining the style of your system will often
catalyze dramatic improvements and demonstrate how a great user
experience doesn't have to add significantly to development cost.
Track Usage Patterns
What features to users access the most?
Which ones are almost never used? When users go into a
feature, how often are they successful? You can spend
generously in time and money to do usability testing before
releasing your product, but nothing beats knowing how users are
succeeding and failing with it in the wild.
We work with your staff to take the data you
have, recommend cost-effective techniques for improving usage data
collection, and analyze it to find out where users are failing to
achieve the results they want. Our focus is not on cosmetic
glitter but on ensuring that your customers are getting the results
they want from your system.
Know the users are achieving their goal
For a reliable system, the likelihood of the
user achieving their goal is much higher than average because
the system is designed so that:
- The user discerns that a goal is accomplishable here
- The user finds the feature(s) needed to accomplish the
goal
- The user understands how to use those features
- The overall process is sufficiently fast & easy that the
user doesn't give up.
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