To offer a better user experience, you need to make your program easy to learn, navigate, and memorize. To do so, you’ll need to understand usability design.
We all use applications and software almost every day. Virtually every electronic device uses software to work and is upgraded every year. But what’s the reason for these upgrades? People were using this software just fine, so why bring any change?
The answer is to improve the software’s user experience. Historically, software was not as easy and simple as it is now. Software designers have been constantly improving the quality of the software to make it much easier to use. And to improve the quality of software, they use something called ‘usability design’.
So, if you want to develop software that people can easily use and quickly learn how to operate, you need to understand what usability design is and how you can use it to improve your software.
What is Usability Design?
Usability means how easily an individual can use a product (in this case, software, application, or program) effectively and efficiently to achieve his or her goal. Being satisfied while using the software is also a part of usability.
Now, let us look at 8 tips that will allow you to apply usability design to improve user experience design for software.
1. It Should be Easy to Learn
The first usability design should be that the program or software must be easy to learn. This will ensure that users have a good experience while learning how the systems work.
For example, let us look at Facebook. Almost everyone knows how to use it. And in most cases, we did not need any assistance to learn the basics. That’s because learning how to operate Facebook is easy. There are no complex rules or manuals that you need to follow. The easy-to-learn mechanics of Facebook is one of the reasons why it became so popular. Different groups like UX design agency work hard to make the user interface of various websites, apps, platforms, programs, and software intuitive and easy to learn.
2. The Home Page Should be Informative
When someone uses an application or a program, the first place they go to is the home page. So, the UX of the home page must be simple with multiple options.
When the user sees these options, they should be able to understand what they want and how they want to operate the platform. The options must not be too elaborate yet contain all the keywords, allowing users to understand where that option will lead them.
3. Basic Navigation Should be Simple
Making navigation in a platform easy will make users much more relaxed while using it. If the user has a hard time navigating around, they’re likely to have a bad impression and possibly even stop using the platform or app.
Easier navigation means the users will be able to find what they are looking for quickly. For instance, if you are working on a website then keep the user interface simple, implement a search bar, provide navigation menus, and keep a hierarchical structure.
4. The Program Must be Efficient
An app or software should be efficient, but how? Well firstly, using it shouldn’t consume too much time nor be too difficult to find things.
If it is filled with unwanted options, this will make it lag a lot, wasting time and making the users feel unsatisfied.
It is true that any software or app should have various options, but you also need to be sure that the UI not overwhelmed with too many options. The options should be intentional and thought through to make them more efficient.
5. The Program Should be Easy to Memorize
Another key aspect of making a platform user-friendly is by making it memorable. There are quite a few ways to make it memorable. First, while making the software or application, you need to assume which options will be more commonly used and which ones won’t be.
The ones that will be commonly used should be at the front page, or at least somewhere where the eyes can easily track them. This way, after using the option once or twice, the user will automatically know what to do.
The easier it is for them to remember the options, the better experience they will have using the platform.
6. Have Proper Guidelines and Double Check Measures to Prevent Mistakes
When a user operates an app or software, it is likely that they will make some sort of mistake. They can be intentional or unintentional. If they make mistakes, such as entering a password or an email address wrongly, they will not have access.
To prevent this, the platforms should give them proper guidelines and make the users double-check the information they are providing. This will reduce the number of mistakes and make operating much easier enhancing the overall UX or user experience design
7. The Users Must be Satisfied
The biggest concern of usability design is that the users must be satisfied while using the program, app or software. If you follow the usability designs mentioned above, you can be sure that the user will have a good experience while using your platform. Letting the user know of any updates and getting their feedback will also make them satisfied with the platform.
8. Make Unique Features
Having unique features especially, in your UX is a great way to attract potential users. While developing a platform, you need to ensure that your platform has some features that other similar platforms do not have. The more unique and eye-catching it is, the more people will be attracted to it.
Final Thoughts
Usability design ensures users have a better experience. This will ensure that users will continue using your program. If you wish for your users to have a better experience while using your program, follow the usability design tips mentioned above. This will make your program effective, efficient, and user-friendly.