When you surf the web a lot you definitely have come across websites that are so easy to use that you immediately knew how to work it. And you definitely came across websites that you spend 5 minutes and left, because you couldn’t even figure out how to do a simple task as search.

So you see. Not only how many features or how your applications looks, but also how the user experiences it is important. I dare to say even more. The usablility is what makes or breakes your application.

A few things a usable website should be:

• Quick and easy to learn/navigate: people don’t want to spend hours and hours learning yet another tool.
• Easy to use: users want to achieve their goals in a minimum amount of time.
• Good error handling: the application should be very forgiving to user errors and it should be easy to recover from them. Also provide enough explaination and/or even solutions to solve the problem.
• The user interface should be consistent with the operating principles: letting the user see what the function that particular option has, aid in the learning process.
• Make it simple and open: to find something in a crowded interface is timeconsuming and is stressing. Clear pictograms also help with memorizing.
• Enjoyable to use: this one speaks for itself, I think.
• Aestetically pleasing: this is especially important for the first impression. When a sites looks good, it invites the user to explore.

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