Ease of Use

Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance.

In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability often refers to the elegance and clarity with which the interaction with a computer program or a web site is designed.

The primary notion of usability is that an object designed with a generalized users psychology and physiology in mind is, for example:

• More efficient to use — it takes less time to accomplish a particular task
• Easier to learn — operation can be learned by observing the object
• More satisfying to use
  

Complex computer systems are finding their way into everyday life, and at the same time the market is becoming saturated with competing brands. This has led to usability becoming more popular and widely recognized in recent years as companies see the benefits of researching and developing their products with user-oriented instead of technology-oriented methods. By understanding and researching the interaction between product and user, ePowerbilling can also provide insight that is unattainable by traditional company-oriented market research. For example, after observing and interviewing billing software users throughout years of experience ePowerbilling has identify needed functionality or design flaws that were not anticipated. That method called «contextual inquiry» does this in the naturally occurring context of the users own environment.

The term user friendly is often used as a synonym for usable, though it may also refer to accessibility. Usability is also used to describe the quality of user experience across websites, software, products and environments.
Usability is a qualitative attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use, it can be divided in five different aspects, ePowerbilling was designed based on the following aspects of usability:

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

The key principle for maximizing usability is to employ iterative design, which progressively refines the design through evaluation from the early stages of design. The evaluation steps enable the designers and developers to incorporate user and client feedback until the system reaches an acceptable level of usability.

We at Akatia Technologies have developed our friendly user interface keeping in mind fondamental usability considerations such as:

• Who are the users, what do they know, and what can they learn?
• What do users want or need to do?
  
• What is the general background of the users?
  
• What is the context in which the user is working?
  
• What has to be left to the machine?
  

Human Processor Model

To fully understand how individuals may respond to a new design or experience it is good to refer on how the human processor works

Many studies have been done to estimate the cycle times, decay times, and capacities of each of these processors. Variables that affect these can include subject age, aptitudes ability, and the surrounding environment.
Here are the ten principles that we have kept in mind throughout the development of our interface design:

• 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.
• 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.
• Consistency and standards: Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
  
• 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.
  
• 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.
  

Benefits of usability

The key benefits of usability are:

• Higher revenues through increased sales
• Increased user efficiency and satisfaction
• Reduced development costs
• Reduced support costs

An increase in usability generally positively affects several facets of a company’s output quality. In particular, the benefits fall into several common areas:[10]

• Increased productivity
• Decreased training and support costs
• Increased sales and revenues
• Reduced development time and costs
• Reduced maintenance costs
• Increased customer satisfaction

Increased usability in the workplace fosters several responses from employees. Along with any positive feedback, workers who enjoy their work do it better, stay longer in the face of temptation, and contribute ideas and enthusiasm to the evolution of enhanced productivity.

By working with ePowerbilling friendly user interface, you can achieve your goals of increased output at lower costs, while potentially creating optimal levels of customer satisfaction and get ahead of your competitors!!!