Components of Usability

Usability is an outcome of a user centered design process (Interaction Design Foundation, 2016).
More than “ease of use”, usability also ensures that the design achieves the goal of the user with
efficiency, effectiveness and ultimate satisfaction. This can only be achieved by carefully examining the
requirements of the user, their preferences and their interactions.

Design for usability is not a finite process, it involves a lot of iterations and evaluation cycles
before the designer comes up with a good design. There are five dimensions that can be considered in
usability and they are: Learnability, Efficiency, Memorability, Error-Handling and Satisfaction (Nielsen,
2012).

Learnability is the aspect of usability where the user can easily grasp and understand the
interface with less training involved. It is very important to really understand the demographics of the
users to see how simple or complex the design should be. The design should follow the mental model of
the users to be able to lessen the stress in using the product. The designer thus, needs to take the
perspective of the user either by interviews, observations and variety of user testing. This dimension is
extremely important especially when rolling out changes with an existing system since familiar users
should be able to transition well or else they will shut you down.

Once the user learns the interface, the next component is efficiency. This covers the speed of
the user in performing the intended tasks. The design should be able to lessen the cognitive load given
to the user in order for them to effectively digest information faster. We can also apply Fitt’s law to
predict the motor ability of the users as they respond to the product.

Memorability is how easily the users can re-establish their proficiency when they re-use the
interface after some time. Again, this involves deep understanding of users’ mental model and at the
same time following the standard design rules that are proven tested in time. Example are the toolbars
present in any windows application, where coherent designs are used to easily find the functions we
want to execute.

Error handling and prevention helps the user to minimize of not totally eradicating potential
errors. Quesenberry (2001) suggested that in order to promote error tolerance, there are 3 things that
the designer need to consider. First is restricting the opportunity to do the wrong things. Like having a
drop down menu for finite choices to avoid input of wrong choices. It is also important to use clear and
simple words to avoid misunderstanding. Second is providing the opportunity to “redo”, such as back
options or “undo” button in windows applications. Lastly, assume that users do not know what to do, so
the designer should take them on a step-by-step process with guides and notifications.

The fifth and last dimension of usability is satisfaction. The end-user should have a pleasant
experience in using the system. This incorporates the aesthetics of the design as well as the ease of use.
Unsatisfied users would not want to go back and use your interface again. It is very important that the
design should also look nice and look right to have an engaged user.

References:
Interaction Design Foundation. 2016. An Introduction to Usability. https://www.interaction-
design.org/literature/article/an-introduction-to-usability Retrieved 2/3/2017

Nielsen, J. 2012. Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-

101-introduction-to-usability Retrieved 2/3/2017

Quesenberry, W. 2001. More than Ease of Use. 48th Annual Conference, Society for Technical
Communication, USA