"But I have used some very successful products (and websites) which have very poor usability."

Interesting posting. Examples?

There probably are some examples where usability does not form part of the buying equation for products and services.

Initial thoughts are ... if there are "people" involved in "using" or "interacting" with something, there is some element of usability involved.

Unless of course the goal of the product does not require "ease of use" or the ability for people to complete tasks quickly e.g. some games require people to get lost (but games also require some element of usability for the controls ...)

Dont you love how you can just debate with yourself here ... over to the panel :) I am off to another webword room for a quiet cigar.

Posted by: daniel szuc on February 1, 2003 08:53 PM

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"the central problem with usability is that it is ignored" From Trouble in Paradise Oct 2000

Usability can survive in two ways:

1) Become a separate high-cost, high-profile activity more akin to a marketing function.

2) Integrate itself so closely with the development process that it cannot be ignored. On a tactical nuclear battlefield one tactic is to make close contact with the enemy so that they cannot use their nukes against you.

Option one will result in usability disappearing into market research firms and will be used to update the focus group methodologies.

Option two will result in the absorbtion of usability into the wider field of software design, just like QA and all the rest.

Please note that this my hard-line view, I am probably a bit softer in reality.

Posted by: Mac - Dont Attack Iraq on February 2, 2003 09:02 AM

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I'm surprised to see people write pieces like this. Part of the problem is the lack of a definition of success. A product can sell and create buzz, and in some people's minds that is sufficient for success. But if you need tech support in order to make it work, that drives up costs, and can mitigate perceptions of success in other people's minds.

Perhaps a program or website can "succeed" if it is sufficiently unique that people have no alternative; that will make the "computer savvy" (er, numb & calloused) users force themselves to work with it, at which point they, as bodhisatvas, can lead the less savvy users to nirvana. But I'm inlcined to believe that the product's success (and invulnerability to competitive intrusion) will be greater if the product is more usable.

Posted by: Frank on February 2, 2003 10:18 AM

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Yes usability matters, just not as much as most people assert (and not nearly as much as most usability practitioners wish).

the central problem with usability is that it is ignored

The problem with usability is not that it is ignored, but that it often deserves to be.

Part of the problem is the lack of a definition of success.

Very true, both in terms of the product and the usability efforts for that product.

Posted by: Ron Zeno on February 2, 2003 03:15 PM

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Usability involves trafeoffs. For example, designing an application or porduct with less usability can mean that more training is required. For a one-off application, to be used by a sophisticated user, this may be the best approach from the standpoint of cost and time. Maximizing usability without regard to other requirements is too narrow.

Posted by: mcw on February 2, 2003 04:22 PM

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The definition of success is very important here. To me, products that have poor usability are being used either because 1) people don't have a choice (many MS products) or 2) because people have gotten used to things a certain way (VCRs?).

VCRs vs. DVDs can help to point something out. VCRs were successful products at one point. People had to have one. But as soon as DVDs came along, which offered a little more improved usability, many people went along with it even though the prices were sky rocketing when they first came out. Now, you hear less and less people who use VCRs. True, that most people still can't afford or won't buy a DVD-writer or record their favorite shows on them, but many still prefer to use DVDs over VCRs when they have a choice. I know this is very debatable and that DVDs are not as high in usability as they could be but it proves to me that people are going to eventually start getting away from products that have poor usability when they get a chance.
Bottom line to me is that products poor in usability can survive as long as there isnt anything else out there as an alternative. And as more and more people start to become more aware of usability I think manufacturers should follow so they can stay in business "successfully."

Posted by: Berna on February 2, 2003 06:02 PM

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Once again, John doesn't credit the proper source. You need to say "Thank you Laughing Jackass" remember?

Posted by: Laughing Jackass on February 2, 2003 11:45 PM

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Except for the occasional nod to ease of use, nobody does much with usability. Developers don't often match productivity against other packages -- they match feature sets. Usability doesn't matter because many developers find it too abstract a notion for users to grasp. This includes many marketing types.

Not all, to be sure. You still find an occational "You'll be finishing your first X with our product before you get through all the Read Me files of the competition." But mostly that smacks of base commerce, an attitude with even commercial ventures. One developer of a software package flat out told me his product was aimed at taking away users from an entrenched, big name, package. The pitch was his product was more productive. No matter he had not tested this assumption against any criterion but his own judgement. This is not just about usability, but basic business benchmarking and testing.

Strangely enough, the user become at once a genius able to figure out any convoluted interface scheme the developer dreams up. Or a dunce who doesn't know what's good for himself. And all depending on one thing -- leaving the code base unchanged. This has less to do with usability than developers views. And in that, usability has done a poor job.

As for bug logging software, why sell what developers already use now. It's called the customer base. (I would guess the software does not have -- for all the lip service about usability -- a section for usability problems)

Posted by: on February 4, 2003 05:31 AM

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