User Experience Re-Mastered

CHAPTER 1. What Is Usability?

Jakob Nielsen

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

Jakob Nielsen has been a leading figure in the usability field since the 1980s and this chapter from his classic book, Usability Engineering (Nielsen, 1993), highlights the multidimensional nature of usability. To be usable, a product or service must consider, at a minimum, these five basic dimensions:

■ Learnability

■ Efficiency

■ Memorability

■ Error tolerance and prevention

■ Satisfaction

An important point made by Nielsen and other usability experts is that the importance of these dimensions will differ depending on the particular context and target users. For something like a bank automated teller machine (ATM) or information kiosk in a museum, learnability might be the major focus of ...