A friend and fellow highedweb colleague recently shared some thoughts about usability, questioning the value it brings to the overall web design process, ultimately proposing that usability is in fact not that important when it really comes down to it (you can read Rommil’s full article here: Useless Usability: Missing the Forest for the Trees) – and, somewhat reluctantly, I’d have to agree.
2 Caveats
I’ll preface this with two caveats: (1) I’m just referring to usability in the web or online medium because that’s where I have the most experience (my views on the benefit of usability testing for product design are different). And (2) Usability is what got me into the web in the first place, and the more I learned about information architecture, interaction design, user experience etc. the more I valued the role that user-centered design practices bring to the table.
So with that in mind, it somewhat pains me to say this, but I think the greatest value that usability testing brings to the web is more in garnering support to justify decisions and gain buy-in, as opposed to actually informing decisions.
To sum it up in a simple phrase: Talent trumps testing.
Talent in this sense is more than having particular skills in design or programming, for example. The talent I’m thinking of is harder to quantify and reflects an expert ability to thoroughly understand business goals, along with having an accurate feeling for the user experience, a strong understanding of technical possibilities and limitations, and then being able to deliver to meet all these needs within the given logistical and operational constraints of a project.
Sometimes this talent can all be met by an individual who carries out the full spectrum of work, other times it’s a talented individual who oversees the work of a team of people who are experts in their own rights, or other times the talent is the collective expertise of a team.
The Bottom Line
I’m still a huge proponent of usability, but for me the bottom line is that while usability testing undoubtedly has a role to play in the overall stages of design and development (and I’d support the argument that projects that incorporate usability testing will tend to statistically lead to better final products), I have started to believe that in many situations you will benefit more from having the right mix of talented people involved in the production process, and that in fact your resources might be better spent finding and nurturing these people, and creating a working environment that gives them the means to carry out their work to their greatest extent possible.
The value that usability testing can provide here is in serving as ammunition for the team to fall back on in the event that they are forced to defend their decisions. When questioned about why something was designed one way and not another, there’s much more strength in an answer that starts off with “Our research with the target audience showed that…” vs. “Well, this is just my opinion, but I think that…”.
I’ll know I’ve found my dream job when I can say, “Trust me, I know what I’m doing!”
