Usability Here, There and Everywhere.
Catering to the production of things being Memorable, Learnable and Easy-to-Use.
I was at the traffic department the other day, standing in what seemed to be the longest line to collect my license.
During my patient wait there, a couple of people and I noticed that there where a number of cars that kept driving into a no entry lane, trying to exit the vicinity. And I thought to myself, “yep, there it is, this is not a person issue, its a usability issue.”
How can that be you ask?
The only visible signs were painted on the ground and the ground that these painted signs were on, had a bit of a down hill slope, so for someone driving toward the no entry zone those signs weren’t really visible.
In less than 5 minutes after the first 2 drivers we noticed, 3 other cars did the very same thing, entering this no entry lane, to only be turned back, and with their faces full of embarrassment they quickly tried to find the actual exit.
The usability practice tells us that we only need a sample of 5 test participants to find 85% of issues on anything we produce. These 5 participants are highly likely to pick up or display the same difficulty in the same place of a system or like at the traffic department, on the road sign infringement.
Without knowing, all industries and all beings who create anything need usability testing, especially if the things we make will be used by other humans.
By running a quick usability test we are at the best place to truly confirm that the things we produce are truly human-centered and not just made by us without the others.
Usability testing creates a world where we empathize with or end users, I mean if we had asked at least 4 of the people driving the cars that drove into the incorrect lane,
- what they thought caused them driving into the incorrect lane?
- how they felt after realizing the difficulty?
- how they think the sign display could be better placed to avoid the issue?
I think we could have way less frustrated drivers, avoid unnecessary traffic caused by the cars making a U-turn to get back to the correct lane, and all the shouting and stares that the by-standers give while the driver shamefully pretends they did not make the mistake.
Having conducted usability tests teaches me that the issue here lies NOT with the user, but more on how not so usable the product or in this case the signs are.
It’s important to remember that the lack of consideration on ease of use or on making/developing products that are obvious enough to use , we risk the break down of our confidence in the organizations or even brands behind the products made.
The main priority to anyone who develops websites, makes products or even provides a service, needs to intensely focus on minimizing or even better eliminating as many “wordy” instructions and ensuring that what you have produced is self-explanatory, as most users really do not always choose the best option when using anything, we choose the most reasonable option, a decision making strategy called “Satisficing”
So in the development of all things and in our everyday living, I think without bashing our great inventors work, we should create a world where it easy enough to hold conversation with our customers on how they feel about our offerings, without just pushing ROI. A world were inventors engage our customers on what we have planned and ask them to assist in trying out a sample before we hit market.
Ahhh (inserts blue cloud) what a wonderful world it would be…
