Usability! What's this? (Part -1)

How do we say that "this" particular thing is very "easy to use"? This ease of use can be defined loosely as the "usability" of that particular thing, which can a be a tool or any other human-made object which helps us in achieving a goal.

Especially in HCI (Human Computer Interaction) and CS (Computer Science), this term "Usability" generally refers to the "ease of use, clarity & elegance" of the particular software or website developed. In non-IT aspects, it can be even the efficient design of any mechanical objects such as door handle or any tool that we use in our home.

ISO standard:

The document ISO 9126 (1991) Software Engineering Product Quality, issued by the International Organization for Standardization, defines usability as:
"A set of attributes that bear on the effort needed for use, and on the individual assessment of such use, by a stated or implied set of users."

The document ISO 9241-11 (1998) Guidance on Usability, also issued by the International Organization for Standardization, defines usability as:
"The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use. "

[ ISO Standard Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability#ISO_standard ]

We will learn more about usability in the 2nd part of this article.

A starter on I.A.

Let's have a brief introduction to Information Architecture (IA).

As Information Architecture Institute defines Information Architecture (abbreviated as IA), Information Architecture is:

• The structural design of shared information environments.
• The art and science of organizing and labeling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability.
• An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.
  

Below given are some resources for the same:

The Information Architecture Institute
Information Architecture Summit
World Wide Web Consortium
IAwiki

More information on IA to be here in the coming days. So keep visiting & please post your feedbacks / suggestions.

Welcome to UsableArchitecture!

You are invited to my blog-space where I am going to contribute some information about "Information Architecture, Usability, User Experience" & more things alike.

I would like to receive your feedback / suggestions , even corrections if I am wrong anywhere as you feel. Do let me know about whatever you feel I write about.

Please let us make this space more interactive to make ourselves better in these fields of knoweldge.

For any queries, do call me up on (+91) 9224-17-8084 / 9833-77-1173.