Web usability
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Web usability is the application of usability in those domains where web browsing can be considered as a general paradigm (or "metaphor") for constructing a GUI.
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[edit] General
Web usability is a general approach: it is as much about the effectiveness of transferring information via the Internet, as it is about the smooth interaction of an end-user with online (and offline) software.
With web browsers becoming a greater part of the interaction between humans and electronic devices, the terms "usability" and "web usability" overlap in numerous ways.
[edit] Methodology
As more results of usability research become available, this leads to the development of methodologies for enhancing web-usability.
[edit] E-commerce
In the context of e-commerce websites, the meaning of web-usability is narrowed down to efficiency: triggering sales and/or performing other transactions valuable to the business.
Web usability received renewed attention as many early e-commerce websites started to failing in 2000. Whereas fancy graphical design had been regarded as indispensable for a successful e-business application during the emergence of internet in the 1990s, web-usability protagonists said quite the reverse was true. They advocated the KISS principle, which had proven to be effective in focusing end-user attention.
[edit] See also
Multivariate testing - Statistical testing of user responses to web content
[edit] External links
See also external links for usability.
- Usability.gov — usability basics with focus on web usability
- Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility — accessibility is a crucial subset of usability for people with disabilities. This W3C/WAI suite includes a section on involving users in testing for accessibility.
- Usability News from the Software Usability Research Laboratory at Wichita State University
- About.com's Usability on the Web
- Usability Professionals' Association — Organization for people practicing and promoting usability
- A list of web usability methods
[edit] Online books
- The (Usable) Web Style Guide
- User In Your Face — A free, online book about user interface design, written in installments