Usability can be defined as the discipline that seeks to optimize the ease of use and the learning process of human beings.
We must maintain a deep knowledge of users — what they need, what they value, their abilities, and their limitations. We must also focus on the goals of the project management team. Best practices in usability and UX promote improving the quality of the user's interaction with your product and any related service.
Core Factors
At the heart of user experience is ensuring that people find value in what is provided to them. Peter Morville represents this through his UX Honeycomb.
For a meaningful and valuable user experience, information must be:
- Useful — your content must be original and satisfy a need
- Usable — the site must be easy to use
- Desirable — image, identity, brand, and design elements evoke emotion and appreciation
- Findable — content must be navigable and locatable on and off the site (SEO)
- Accessible — content must be accessible to people with disabilities
- Credible — users must trust and believe what you tell them
Related Disciplines in UX
UX is an ever-growing field that is still being defined. Building user-centered design encompasses HCI principles and goes further to include:
- Project Management — planning and organizing a project and its resources
- User Research — understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations through observation and feedback
- Usability Evaluation — how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals
- Information Architecture (IA) — how information is organized, structured, and presented
- UI Design — anticipating what users need to do and ensuring the interface is easy, understandable, and task-focused
- Interaction Design (IxD) — creating engaging interactive systems with well-grounded behaviors
- Visual Design — ensuring an interface is aesthetically pleasing and aligned with brand objectives
- Content Strategy — planning, delivering, and managing useful content behind a product
- Accessibility — ensuring people with disabilities can access and benefit from the experience
- Web Analytics — gathering, presenting, and analyzing website data
