When something becomes easier to use it becomes more useful.

When something becomes easier to use it becomes more useful. This is such an easy concept and obvious and yet when it is Googled there isn’t much in the abstract but vast amounts claiming their product is easier to use. Perhaps the search was too narrow so a broader search is needed.

Google Searches

1. “easier to use” – 21,200,000 hits – First 50 are specificly to products
2. “How to make it easier to use.” – 95 – are not abstract but also specific
3. “How to make it easier to use.” wikipedia – 7 – The term usability pops up.
4. usability – 298,000 – leads me to
5. Usability – Wikipedia 30,6000,000 – This is what was being thought about from the beginning.
6. Wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability – Usability

Here are some generalized possibilities on how to make something easier to use written before the Google search.

1. Scalabliity – if a things works on one thing it can be made to work in a similar way on in infinite number of other similar things.
2. Simplicity – the functional effect is obvious from its appearance.
3. Label – a printed label long enough and descriptive enough to make sense
4. Icon – simple and obvious and colorful enough to make sense and stand out.
5. A standard and consistent pattern of controls and effects.
6. Limited number – only a few possible choices within any given pattern field with a maximum of about seven in a linear list and about five by five in a flat field. If there are more group them into logical groups with a pattern.
7. Alphabetize – Very large groups can be alphabetized, Dewey decimalize, LOCed or Julianaed.
8. Purloined – As in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” where the object of interest is hidden in plain sight. This can be done by heaping or hiding in plain sight on the web. This can be done by placing the subject matter in random places, which are Googled, with a few unusual key tag words in combination with the special information, For example tag some special information with: – naked fardels – That word pair currently gets 3,300 hits, so its words are not unique, but none of the returned items have that two word sequence. Therefore you could hide some information on the Internet in some weird and boring blog where no one would find it except Google and then anyone with what functions as a password – naked fardels – could easily find it. You could found and hide a whole organization and information system this way using a few random slightly unusual word pairs. Granted it might be a little bit slow because it must be crawled before it becomes findable but that can be speeded up by having the blog on WordPress which gets crawled every day. The provider of the information would be long gone before the subject was crawled.

The following list is from wikipedia – where usability is a part of “usefulness” and is composed of:

1. Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
2. Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
3. Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they re establish proficiency?
4. Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
5. Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?Ten Usability Heuristics

by Jakob Nielsen derived from his book Usability Engineering

These are ten general principles for user interface design. They are called “heuristics” because they are more in the nature of rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines.

1. Visibility of system status
   The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.
2. Match between system and the real world
   The system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
3. User control and freedom
   Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
4. Consistency and standards
   Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
5. Error prevention
   Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.
6. Recognition rather than recall
   Minimize the user’s memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
7. Flexibility and efficiency of use
   Accelerators — unseen by the novice user — may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
8. Aesthetic and minimalist design
   Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
   Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
10. Help and documentation
    Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

Wikipdeia’s condensation of Jakob Nielsen’s book Usability Engineering

Simple and natural dialogue (Aesthetic and minimalist design)
Speak the user’s language (Match between system and the real world)
Minimize user memory load (Recognition rather than recall)
Consistency (Consistency and standards)
Feedback (Visibility of system status)
Clearly marked exits (User control and freedom)
Shortcuts (Flexibility and efficiency of use)
Good error messages (Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors)
Prevent errors (Error prevention)
Help and Documentation (Help and documentation)

When something becomes easier to use it becomes more useful. The above references were great but they were more specific in their application than the original statement implied. They were aimed primarily at computer usability and not so much at the physical world, although they could be applied there.

What is their usefulness in  making the paths across campus shorter and less architected with too many right angled paths and hedges and other impediments to easy travel. The trees and grass are beautifying but they should be walked through and enjoyed not ducked around and tromped on.

Walking through the oaks in Berkeley

The 100 year old walk from Berkeley BART station to campus is through some ancient oak trees and is wonderful, relaxing and gives everyone a much needed moment of being back in nature. But the walk between some of the most used buildings on campus is across an obstical course of curbs and the muddy paths across the north side of the Campanile esplanade is so poorly designed that it is violated by thousands of students every day. Nielsens principles can be used out of the box for these functions and should be applied to the real world by designers.

Help and documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.

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