Amberlight unveils new look offices
Amberlight has revealed their new-look offices including state-of-the-art equipment for viewing and recording tests.
read press releaseUseful | Accessible | Usable | Persuasive
A usable technology is one that enables its users to complete the tasks they want to complete. Usability is a property of a design that can be engineered and assessed by employing real users in the development process.
Usability is a very important (but not the only) factor in user-centred design. It is imperative that users must be able to complete their tasks in systems that they are obliged to use correctly (e.g. worksystems, online banking or ticket booking systems). However, it has been shown that people often prefer to use systems that are demonstrably less usable than comparable alternatives. The factors that affect this are discussed in the final tier of the Amberlight hierarchy.
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) define usability as the combination of three factors:
Effective: can members of a target audience reach their goals using the system?
Efficient: what resources (e.g. time, energy, key presses) do these users need to expend to achieve these goals?
Satisfying: do users find the system comfortable and acceptable?
These criteria are specified by ISO 9241, and are commonly accepted. It is important to note that products don't have any intrinsic usability. For example, we cannot say, "This mobile phone has perfect usability." Rather, products are more or less usable when employed by certain users for defined tasks. Usable systems are also easily learnable and memorable.
Amberlight methods that focus on usability include:
- Task analysis
- Iterative prototyping
- Guidelines conformance
- Expert review
- Real-user testing
- Collaborative design
As mentioned previously, that a product is usable does not guarantee that it will be used. To ensure this, a system must meet the criteria on the top tier of the hierarchy.
