Usability Equation

July 18, 2005 - 6:21am

The fate of any content management system, whether it be a personal blog, or a $100,000 dollar Enterprise-level bloatware package rests on usability.

Usability is an both an overused word, and an underexplained concept. So here's a simple equation to gauge your site's usability.

Usability =

the sum of: 

  • How quickly new users can learn the navigation.
  • How efficently experienced users can get where they want to go
Minus:
  • The amount of thought your users have to put into navigating your site
  • The overall complexity of your navigation structure