What is Usability?

Usability is the extent to which a website or application is easy, efficient and satisfying to use for its intended audience. Good usability reduces friction and increases the conversion rate: visitors find what they are looking for without having to think.

The five components of usability

Learnability: how quickly a new user learns the system. Efficiency: how quickly tasks are completed. Memorability: how easily users remember it after a break. Errors: how often users make mistakes and how serious they are. Satisfaction: how pleasant the overall experience is.

Usability versus UX

Usability is part of the broader user experience. UX also covers emotions, expectations and brand perception. A site can be usable and still have poor UX if the emotional experience is missing.

Testing usability

Through user tests, heatmaps, session recordings and A/B tests. Just five test users uncover 85 percent of usability problems, so you do not need a big budget.

Is usability the same on mobile and desktop?

No. Mobile needs bigger buttons, shorter forms, less text and an adapted navigation structure.

How do I improve the usability of my site?

Start with user tests and heatmap analysis. More at developers.google.com/search.