Yes, usability is spelled correctly. It's another one of those words that has leapt from complete obscurity into the Web wonk's active lexicon. The realm of user interface design, usability, and human factors is well beyond the scope of this course. There are people writing their Ph.D.s on the subject, but don't let that scare you away from what are some relatively simple and proven techniques to make your sites more usable.
According to Jakob Nielsen, one of the world's most widely known usability gurus, usability can be defined as "the measure of the quality of the user experience when interacting with something, whether a Web site, a traditional software application, or any other device the user can operate in some way or another." Pretty straightforward stuff. So why are most Web sites generally regarded as failures in the usability category? According to Nielsen, "Web designs always turn out bad unless the project management takes explicit care to apply usability engineering throughout the design process."
In the early days, the Web was terribly ugly yet usable in its simplicity. It was ugly because there was no color, every background was the same dull silver-gray, all text was either left-justified or centered, and the hyperlink was the only interactive component. Links were always unmistakable; blue, underlined text. Then came browsers with better support for new technologies and standards, talented graphic designers stepped in, eager to show off their stuff, and the race was on to create the next slickest site on the Web. And of course, commerce entered into the equation. As a result, the lightning-fast evolution of the Web has arguably resulted in an emphasis on aesthetics over usability.
Web developers tend to have their own development habits, coding styles, and design preferences that are visible on any site they've touched. This is to be expected; after all, Web development is something of an art form to most people. A developer who doesn't add some sort of personal touch to their design or coding techniques probably hasn't developed many Web sites. Unfortunately, most developers overlook one of the most important principles in Web development: usability.
Part of the problem can be traced to the wrong people making decisions about what their company's Web site should look like and what it should contain. Without a solid understanding of what works on the Web and what doesn't, no one can create a successful Web site. Successful sites are usually the product of a team's expertise; Web-savvy designers, code wonks, and content folks. Too often, Web sites are designed-and even redesigned-without having the foggiest notion of what they're trying to achieve with the design change or even the site itself.