Most, if not all, Internet users are familiar with the hallmarks of poor usability. How often have you invested time at a site only to be frustrated because you were unable to complete a purchase or registration process, or couldn’t find the information you sought? More importantly for commercial websites, how was your perception of the brand behind the website affected by your experience?

On the Internet of course, a competitor’s website is just a few clicks away, and although high-profile websites continue to make errors, most businesses are now well aware of the commercial benefits brought by a website with good usability. It’s clear that no commercial online venture can afford damaging brand reputation by annoying website visitors, and it’s equally apparent that addressing usability problems, for instance in simplifying registration and purchase processes, can raise online revenue.

Usability considerations however extend way beyond website design. Take-up of digital television continues apace, and interactive television is opening up new avenues to the consumer. Developers have to some extent learnt the lessons of early iTV development - the remote control is not a mouse, and accordingly iTV pages should not be laid out like web pages- but the medium is still at a very early stage, and good usability will be key in ensuring iTV fulfils its vast potential. The capabilities of mobile phones too grow ever more sophisticated, yet users rightly expect simple and intuitive digital interfaces to control the increasingly complex functions. Again, usability analysis will remain paramount in ensuring users’ expectations are met.

How humans interact with digital interfaces is determined by psychological, physiological and sociological factors (e.g. reading from right to left). Drawing on a number of academic disciplines, usability analysis is about taking advantage of this sort of knowledge and accepted conventions (e.g. a website’s ‘home’ button) to encourage interface designs that allows users to achieve their goals with the minimum of fuss, time and effort. Observing participants as they complete true-to-life tasks, usability specialists are able draw up a detailed picture of the interface as experienced by the end user, and provide recommendations to refine and improve its performance.

Of course, ensuring good usability will be just one of many requirements to be satisfied in any digital interface project. Commercial imperatives will be the driving force behind any development and it’s vital that key business objectives are met. There will also be aesthetic considerations- no business wants to be associated with drab, uninspiring design. What is needed is a design process that can balance all of these requirements to deliver a finished product that delivers on all fronts. And this is where user centred design (UCD) comes into its own.

Working closely with project developers, usability specialists are able to deliver interfaces which not only meet project and business objectives, but also which the end user can navigate through as quickly and effortlessly as possible. In allowing alternative solutions to be tried out cost effectively, helping to avoid over-development and wasted investment during a project, and assisting in the creation of an interface that keeps satisfied users coming back, an User Centered Design approach reaps significant financial rewards.

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