Usability

I’ve been reading a lot about usability lately. I’ve written a few web based applications in the past (and one particular larger one about six months ago), which were built with very little thought to the usability. That’s not to say that they weren’t usable, but that they were designed concurrently with the programming, so usability was secondary (or even lower) on the list of concerns.

I picked up the excellent book Don’t make me think by Steve Kurg. It’s what I call a “duh” book. The whole time you’re reading it… you’re thinking “duh, that’s obvious.” That doesn’t mean it’s a bad book, (obviously I called it excellent), sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees and a book like this really brings things into focus. If you do any web development or application development you need to get a copy of this book.

So I have a couple new rules that I am going to use when designing any kind of system.

First, I’m going to take a page from Apple’s philosophy, or the (not so) old adage K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). Apple knows how to build good software. It doesn’t do 100% of what their competitors products do, but what it does is discard the 25% that could make the software confusing or bloated and makes the rest streamlined and simple. Take for instance iTunes*, its features are pale in comparison to J. River, WinAmp or Media Player, however it is an order of magnitude easier to use than the others (because the programmers didn’t have to struggle to create an interface for the less popular features).

Second, users are willing to muddle through… to a point. They’re used to using the back button, and they’re used to not always finding what they’re looking for on the first click. As long as the site is constructed well, and it’s easy to navigate, a little muddling is fine.

Third, as a designer I have to release the reins a bit and try to let the users drive the design. It’s hard for me to let this go, since this is what I’m paid to do (design). The design will always be important (otherwise the site looks like something from 1995), but ultimately I don’t have to use it.

*I am saddened by the fact that apple is starting to turn iTunes into a media player that will hold videos (downloaded from the music store) and even PDFs. It feels like this was hastily added on to iTunes and really doesn’t befit Apple’s legacy of quality applications.