Usability

Vehicles, screwdrivers, websites and just about every other product or service are used by people. And people come in a whole range of aptitudes and abilities. So it is important to make sure that whatever they wish to use is as 'usable' as possible.

Open other end

This seems pretty obvious but how often have you purchased a product and then spent hours trying to work out how to open the lid or turn it on? If you have then it is obvious that the product was not usable.

One could argue that you should have read the instructions first but that isn't the way it happens. The old adage that 'if all else fails, read the instructions' is unfortunately the way most people go about things. Did you read the help file for the browser you are using? More likely you just clicked on things to see what would happen.

When is comes to using the Internet, visitors to a website are notoriously fickle. If they cannot find what they want quickly and easily they will go elsewhere. If you want them to stay at your site then you need to make their visit enjoyable. This means considering the overall design, accessibility, layout, navigation, styles, colours, fonts, content, graphics, and so on and so on. In other words, make it usable.

Do it this way

But (and there is always a but), making a website usable is not easy, even sites like this one have their faults, but a lot can be achieved if the guidelines offered here are considered. Maybe not all of them will be valid and you may disagree with some of the advice, but I am sure that you will find something of use. And, if you are not sure, check out some of the other usability web sites - you will see the same ideas repeated again and again. So without further ado, use the links up on the right to work your way through my set of Effective Web Design guides.

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