World Usability Day
Friday July 13, 2007
World Usability Day promotes the value of engineering usable products and the belief that every user has the responsibility to ask for things that work better. It’s really about making life a little bit easier. If you have ever had a hard time programming your TV, searched endlessly for a button on your remote control, or struggled trying to purchase a product online you may have been a victim of poor usability.
That should also be the goal of any well-designed Web site. It’s why Capstrat’s interactive team follows a User Centered Design (UCD) methodology to assure that Web sites are easy to use and engaging for users. As part of our UCD process, early in the project we complete user interviews and surveys to assist in the development of target audience personae and scenarios. Personae define typical Web site users and are used in conjunction with scenarios (common Web site tasks) to guide the user experience and visual designers in designing the interface design, information architecture, interaction design and functionality.
Capstrat also conducts several rounds of both low and high fidelity usability testing with participants representative of a site’s actual users. Periodic usability testing throughout the Web development life cycle assures our new Web sites work effectively for those that need to use them while meeting our client’s objectives. This testing also allows us to make adjustments to the site based on user feedback prior to site launch. If we are successful, our sites are so easy to use that you don’t even have to think about the design: it just makes sense!
Next year make sure to put World Usability Day on your calendar. And while you might not take the day off and put up your feet, remember that many professionals work hard every day to make the tools, services and products you use more efficient and easier to use. Now that’s worth celebrating.
