Usability: as important as the product

08 Apr

Posted by Scott as technical communication, usability, users

A few posts back, Aaron discussed how “effective usage as a far more important factor for realizing value in a software deployment than features and functionality”. That’s not only the case with software, but with Web services, too.

This short article points out:

Online retailers can win customers by maximising usability rather than lowering prices

The benefits of well-planned usability are obvious. Users are able to get more done quickly and easily with a clean, easy to follow interface. It’s not only on the Web, either. It applies to the desktop, too.

If you want a view of this from the perspective of a technical communicator, then read this post by Gordon McLean. It goes into some detail about the usability process he follows.