So we have determined that a balanced approach is necessary to provide a quality user experience for our users. Lets look at the first foundational aspect of a good user experience.

*Authors note – part 1 of this series was lost when the server my site was previously hosted on went down.

1. Just a note hear my primary focus is on web design, and user interfaces, but this process can apply to web based products, or most products for that manner.

2. To save excessive typing when I use the term client it can also refer to those you would work for in an in-house environment (Bosses, Marketing dept., Art Directors etc.)

Usability – Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object’s perceived efficiency or elegance. Or simply put – A site/product is available or convenient for use, and capable of being used to reach a desired goal.

So what makes a web site, product, or user interface usable?Available or Convenient for Use / Capable of Being UsedIs the site available? Does it work? Can people use it as originally intended? Aaron Gustafson makes a good point that we need to consider how people will be accessing the site/ interface we are building when he says;

On the web, we don’t know anything about the person coming to our website. We don’t know what browser she is using. We don’t know if she is hitting our site from her cell phone. We don’t know if she prefers using her keyboard over her mouse. We don’t know if JavaScript (or even CSS) is enabled in the device she is using. We don’t know if she wants to print the page. We don’t know if she is using a screen reader. We really don’t know anything.

If Aaron is right (and i think he is) then it is really up to us to anticipate what our users need, which isn’t always easy, but it can be achieved by opening the lines of communication, find out what the desired result is for the project and set up a process for defining what the user experience should be.A couple good things to remember in the process courtesy of Indi Young.

“When creating one, turn off your internal problem-solver and just listen to people”"Thinking from the potential customer’s perspective is a Zen-like exercise.” ~ Indi young

Here is what I suggest;(these are just a couple of basic points dependent on site needs there could be more)

1. Make sure that the user can navigate through the site to the desired end results efficiently. Is the navigation clear and easy to follow? Are the links/buttons easy to click? (you would be surprised) Does the link text properly define the page it is linking to?

2. Make sure that the content is given proper value. Is it concise? Does it tell the story?Is it lost in the style/look and feel of the site? We must remember that the content is why someone has come to the site in the first place.

3. Will the usability marry well with the style? Can you make the site a great visual experience without sacrificing the desired end result? Will it still function well in all browsers? Is it accessible? If you can marry these two elements you are almost guaranteed a great end result.(We will talk about this more in part 3 of the series “Visual Appeal”)

Starting with those three elements as a base will offer a good foundation for building a great user experience that is very usable and convenient. I realized that Usability can be it’s own series, and that I am really just touching on the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully this will inspire us to look deeper into defining a good user experience starting with Usability, and as we look at each aspect we can build a good foundation for creating well-balanced high quality user experiences.

Please feel free to post your thoughts, comments, and additions and or mention anything I may have left out.

~Aaron I