What usability is

Improving the user experience

Usability is an element of user experience. Something is usable if it is all of the following.

Effective

Users can complete actions accurately

Efficient

Users can perform tasks quickly through the easiest process

Easy to learn

New users can achieve their goals easily and even more easily on future visits

Engaging

Users find it pleasant to use and appropriate for its industry/topic

Tolerant of errors

Users can make a range of actions without getting an error message.

This means error messages only show when a true mistake happens. You do this by finding out the number, type and severity of common errors that users make. Then how easily users can recover from those errors with the right information.

Where usability happens

Usability applies to anything a person needs to use when accessing your service. That can be digital things: 

• websites
• online forms
• software
• apps

And real-world things: 

• in-person processes
• physical space
• telephone scripts
• paper forms
• information leaflets