What is Usability?
Nearly all IT products will benefit from a usability input. Good usability can set you aside from your competitors.
Can usability be measured?
Yes – we can use a range of metrics to benchmark and compare different designs, prototypes, product versions and even competitor offerings. This can allow you to trade-off additional development costs against defined usability benefits and make sound commercial decisions.
Is usability expensive?
No – certainly not when compared to the cost of late changes to a product, the cost of high levels of support, an inefficient workforce, or worse still, lost market opportunities.
When should you look at usability?
Usability is clearly important to attract and retain customers, or if you are in the business of designing and selling an IT system. It is also important when your employees are relying on IT systems (internal or bought-in) to do their jobs safely and efficiently.
With new software development it is never too late to consider usability – but the earlier in the software development lifecycle the lower the cost of change.