Re: [Usability] What is usability?

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Fri, 3 Feb 2006, Kyle Brooks wrote:

> Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 09:16:40 -0500
> From: Kyle Brooks <kyle kbrooks ath cx>
> To: usability gnome org
> Subject: [Usability] What is usability?
>
> Hi all.
>
> So what is it?

Usability is whatever Calum Benson says it is!
;)

Usability can be describe in many different ways, Calum described it two
different ways in an interview with Linux Weekly News (LWN)

http://lwn.net/2001/0614/a/usability-calum.php3

Q3. What is usability - not usability testing, but the term "usability"
    itself?  Define it for us.

CB: Well, the official ISO definition is dry but accurate: "a measure of
the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users
can achieve specified goals in a particular environment with that
interface".

A less formal definition would be that a usable product is easy to learn
and remember how to use, and helps you do your job quickly and enjoyably
without making mistakes.  Of course, each of those factors is more or
less important depending on the product and the environment in which it
will be used-- with an air traffic control system, for example, it's
less important to be fun to use or easy to learn, and more important
that it prevents you from making mistakes.



I (Alan) would add Gnome places emphasis on reaching a wide audience and
this necessitates making things easy to learn and discover with as little
training as possible.  Gnome would have very different usability
requiremtns compared to an expert systems like air traffic control where
users would expect to be properly trained and where the system usability
would be optimised for accuracy and efficiency.  Game design oddly enough
requires usability too, good gameplay is the difference between just
making something difficult and making it challenging but still fun.


Sincerely

Alan Horkan
http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/