Usability

Usability, or user-friendliness, is a measure of how well a specific user can use a product/design in a given context to achieve a specific goal effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily. Designers typically measure the usability of a design throughout the entire development process—from wireframes to final delivery—to ensure maximum user-friendliness.

What does usability mean?

Ease of use is rarely—if ever—a product of chance. If you leave usability to chance, you'll likely end up with a product that's great in theory, perhaps even visually impressive, but ultimately inefficient or frustrating to use.

Rather, user-friendliness is the result of decisions made by designers based on solid research and testing.

The design is carefully developed to make it easy for users to perform the tasks they need to accomplish with the product. This is based on research-driven decisions and has been rigorously tested.

If you have a mobile phone that you enjoy using, the designers have most likely done a good job of optimizing the device's usability through research and testing.

Of course, you might be able to put up with a phone that has poor usability, but in that case, there are probably other elements (elsewhere in the hierarchy or in the overall user experience) that compensate for the usability problems – at least for a while.

User-friendliness: The factors of web usability and user experience that count

User tasks: The most important thing is to check whether users can achieve their goals when they visit your website. They should not only be able to achieve their goals, but also be able to do so efficiently.

Determine what the users' main tasks are and consider the following points to evaluate task performance:

• LearnabilityHow easy is it for new users to learn the user interface and perform a task? Are there sufficient help features such as tutorials, inline tips, and hints for complex tasks?
• IntuitionHow obvious and easy is the task to accomplish?
• Efficiency: Are there ways to streamline and reduce the time required to complete the task? How can the interface be improved to avoid errors and repetition?
• Difficulty: Is it obvious what the result of a user action will be when users interact with an element on your website by clicking, moving the mouse pointer, or tapping it?

Readability for users

Content is the heart of any website. Being unable to read and understand the user interface hinders the efficient and accurate execution of tasks. To begin evaluating readability, consider the following points:

• Easy to understandIs the content easy to understand and internalize? Are the sentences and paragraphs concise?
• legibilityAre the font sizes large enough? Is there sufficient contrast between text and background?

Website navigation

Navigation, or usability, consists of numerous user interface components, such as navigation menus, search fields, and links. It is essential that users can navigate through multiple websites as easily as possible. Navigability depends on these factors:

• Information architectureHow well are the websites categorized and organized?
• Findability: Does the website have enough features, such as search fields, links, and navigation functions, to make it easier to find relevant information?
• Efficiency: How quickly and with how many actions (number of clicks, how much text, etc.) does one reach a page of interest?

Accessibility

A website should be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities that affect their internet use. Here are the key considerations for accessibility testing:

• Cross-browser/cross-platform Does the website work in all browsers? Is the website responsive?
• Semantic HTML markup – For those who use assistive technologies such as a screen reader, the quality and accuracy of the website's structure is important. Are the HTML tags used correctly?
• color selection Are the colors used high-contrast? Do the colors pose a problem for people with color blindness or visual impairment?

Website speed

The more efficient a website is, the more efficient its users, and more efficient users are more satisfied users. When evaluating website speed, pay attention to response time.

• Website response timeHow quickly does a website load?

To speed up your website, you should optimize the delivery of images and CSS and reduce the number of plugins on your website if you are using an open-source content management system like WordPress.

What does a user-friendly design look like?

You should first focus on how well your design works within its context. This means concentrating on the whole—not its parts (e.g., individual web pages)—and keeping the content simple. Therefore, make sure you:

• Work with a clear understanding of the users' goals and reflect this in your design.
• Imitation of the real world in concepts, symbols, and language.
• Present instantly understandable, jargon-free messages and actions that users can perform – one main action per screen.
• Limit the options to create a strong informational impact on a clear display – show the essential information needed to complete tasks.
• Keep the content consistent.
• Follow established standards regarding function and layout (e.g., logo positioning, tactile buttons).
• Use the correct font size, color, contrast, white space, etc. to:
  • a. to combine aesthetics with readability,
  • b. to present a clear, logical information hierarchy,
  • c. to ensure accessibility.
• Use chunking and emphasize key information at the beginning and end of interactive sequences.
• Provide informative feedback about the system status.
• Include useful navigation systems and search functions.
• Enable customizable controls, including keyboard shortcuts.
• Avoid interruptions – e.g., forced logins/pop-ups.
• Forms should be easy to fill out.
• Include warnings and autocorrect features to minimize errors.
• Make forms easy to fill out.
• Provide easy-to-understand help documentation.
• Show clear contact options.
• Provide an "Undo" button to reverse actions.
• Add ALT tags to display more information about the images.
• Consider the server's capabilities in terms of loading times and downtime.
• Pay attention to in-app browsers and limitations (e.g., scrolling) in the mobile design.
• Activate the links.
• Describe the links in detail.
• Use buyer personas.
• Conduct thorough usability tests.

Users should feel immersed in and in control of products/designs that predict their actions and help them get things done correctly and quickly. If they stop thinking about what you're showing them, they lose trust. Overall, you should strive to achieve a high level of user experience.