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Usability for Web Development and Website Design in London:

Submitted by lilo on 2008-04-21 and viewed 215 times.
Total Word Count: 506   

Usability refers to the level of ease with which a user can interact with the graphic user interface of an application, website or web development solution.

Usability refers to the level of ease with which a user can interactwith the graphic user interface of an application, website or webdevelopment solution. Conducting a usability study on your recenwebsite project is especially important in the competitive environmentof web development in London The study of usability promotes methods of improving efficiency and ease of use during the design process.
There are many attributes that are measured to establish whetherusability has been successfully implemented. These includelearnability, efficiency, memorability, errors, utility andsatisfaction.
Learnability - refers to the level of ease with which first timeusers can interact with the interface and how easily they find it toperform basic tasks.
Efficiency - is measured in the speed at which users who are familiar with the interface can perform tasks.
Memorability - refers to how quickly a user who hasn’t been in contact with the interface for a while can re-establish competence.
Errors - relates to the amount of errors users make and how easily they can recover from these errors.
Utility - refers to the functionality of the design.
Satisfaction - is measured in the pleasure experienced with interfacing with a good website design.
These are just fancy theories for considering who the intended usersare, what they know, what they want or need to know, how fast can theylearn, etc. A website designed with usability in mind, is known to havea user-centred design, making the website user friendly. A userfriendly designed website or application will assist in reaching theproposed target audience, ensuring that the purpose of the website isnachieved.
Usability is imperative from a user’s perspective as it determinestheir ability to perform tasks accurately and efficiently and enjoyingthe procedure at the same time. Usability also determines the successof the website or web development application. It also determines theproductivity of a workforce in the case of internal applications. Whatthis boils down to is that effective implementation of usability savestime, effort and money and increases revenue and user efficiency. Allof these elements are vital to remain competitive in the WebDevelopment environment of London.
The key principle for improving usability is to implement evaluationphases from the early stages of design. This provides the web designersin London with user and client feedback at an early stage, which canthen be implemented and refined as the project progresses, resulting ina more user-centred design.
Usability testing should preferably be done with the actual users ofthe website or application; however there are many other ways of doingit. Testing with the actual users ensures more realistic feedback,which can then be knowledgeably applied to the design. A common mistakeat this stage would be to listen to what the users say, instead ofresearching their reaction. Usability experts should bear in mind thatusers are not designers; however designers may possibly be users. Usershave no insight on the best web design practices that should be for thespecific type of application.
Schedules and budgets can make it seem difficult or unnecessary toconsider usability, however it should then be considered that effectiveimplementation of usability saves time, effort and money and increasesrevenue and user efficiency.

Article Source: http://ateau.com/webmasters/.
About the Author
Robert London is an employee at Lilo, a Web Development and Design company based in London. Lilo also specialises in www.lilo.co.uk/">Web Development London, Website Design and Branding, E-marketing, E-commerce, and Multimedia, Web Applications as well as www.lilo.co.uk/design-and-branding-lilo.asp">SEO in London. Lilo has offices in Blooms bury, London, Cape Town South Africa and Melbourne Australia.