WQ Usability Skip to main content Home Services Publications ProjectsBiography What Does Usability Mean: Looking Beyond ‘Ease of Use’

The definition of usability is sometimes reduced to "easy to use, " but this over-simplifies the problem and provides little guidance for the user interface designer. A more precise definition can be used to understand user requirements, formulate usability goals and decide on the best techniques for usability evaluations. An understanding of the five characteristics of usability – effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant, easy to learn – helps guide the user-centered design tasks to the goal of usable products. MEANINGS OF USABILITY The word "usability " has become a catch-phrase for products that work better for their users, but it is difficult to pin down just what people mean by it. Is ‘usability’ a result – software that is usable;1. a process, also called user-centered design, for creating usable software;2. a set of techniques, such as contextual observation and usability testing, used to achieve that result; or 3. a philosophy of designing to meet user needs?4. These different meanings can be described in four key requirements