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No. 34 Usability and Conditions for Website Success (July 26, 2006)
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As the Internet becomes an increasingly important part of our lives, more and more companies use websites not simply as a medium for providing information about their company, but rather consider it to be a vital business management channel?one which is advantageous for turning potential customers into real ones and building relationships with customers. These days, companies are thinking of their website not so much in terms of the same role as a pamphlet, for example, but rather as their salesperson, or branch office, or even their headquarters.
Along with this conceptual shift, many companies are redesigning their existing sites in pursuit of business successes via their websites. It is in this redesign phase where the concept of usability and the methodology of user-centered design really shine.
 Surface Interpretation of Usability
Actually, the word usability has a more basic, intrinsic significance. Many different definitions for the word exist, but the one in ISO9241-11 best describes the concept. ISO 9241-11 defines usability as the extent to which a product (website) can be used:
- by specified users
- to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction
- in a specified context of use.
Note that in this definition, the word specified is used three times. This means that if the same product is used by different users or to achieve different goals or under different conditions, the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction will change.
For instance, think of the product a road. In our example, that product, the road, is used by users who are children, and under the conditions that there are five of them, in the daytime, for the purpose of having a footrace. Now take the same road, but this time the user is a truck and the condition is that it is fully-loaded, with the purpose to transport goods quickly. It is easy to imagine that the ideal version of this same product, the road, will be very different from one situation to the other.
This also holds true with websites. In other words, the ideal site will vary widely depending on its users, the conditions surrounding that user, and the purpose for which it will be used. Therefore, to discuss superficial aspects and make statements about such aspects as how navigation should function・is meaningless. The fundamental viewpoint of usability is that if you want to have a discussion about the surface, you first have to go back to the root of things and determine who the users are, under what conditions they will use the site, and for what purpose they will be using it.
Stated differently, in order to deliver the ideal site, you must first clarify the users, conditions, and the purpose of the site. That is why it is critical to do a thorough survey of users in order to improve usability.
By understanding your users ahead of time, you can put into place a hypothesis which will shape your site into one which is highly usable - a site that truly serves the purpose of your users and does so efficiently.
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