Located: research topics > human interaction

Thinking beyond web usability - the importance of total user experience

Interviewer: Rhodes, J. (1999)

Abstract: This is an interview with Dr. Donald Norman on the issue of web site usability. Norman says usability is secondary to the total experience given by a site, and that people will accept poor usability if they get what they need.

Dr Norman asks the question how do people know what to do in any situation? He says information exists in the head and in the world ­ so people need perceptual clues to let them know how to act. Example ­ flat plate on door only allows one action (push) so a sign is not needed saying 'push'.

He says the convention of website navigation ­ blue and underlines ­ are ugly, but people dare not change because millions have come to rely on it for navigation.

Critical of most sites, because they flaunt convention and are bad at description. The concept of human-centred design ­ hints of what will happen when you do something (ie click on a link). This fits in with Fleming's concept (from her book), that feedback is a critical component of navigation.

Marketing is what gets you to try something in the first place, but once there the true experience takes over ­ ease of use is a small part ­ but desired functionality is what really matters. Branding is part of marketing ­ it promises a certain level of quality and reliability.

He believes people forget useability ­ it is secondary. People accept poor useability if they get what they need ­ if the total experience is great. They will also reject perfect useability if not rewarded with a useful or engaging result. This would appear a very important concept in the theme of site functionality. If acceptance of useability is moderated by overall experience, then the concepts of marketing would become critical to the function of the site (primarily because experience in this context is attached to specific users, not functionality, and therefore has associated market diversity).

Shopping carts where people abandon the sale are often because purchasing steps are onerous. The Website loses the sale through people were 80% on the way to completing a purchase.

The myth that things are intuitive is rubbish ­ a spoon or a pencil are called intuitive when in fact we've spent several years learning how to use it. Once we've learned it, we shouldn't have to again. This poses a problem ­ if new or improved systems are to be introduced, how is the relearning issue to be managed?

"What I hate about many products, and most software, and most websites, is that I have to keep relearning. The steps are so obscure, so illogical, so lacking any clean conceptual model, that each time one uses it's a new challenge. Well, a plague on that."

The best thing to compare to a website is a website. Analogies are just that -- an analogy. If you want to study the real thing, go directly to life. Ignore analogies. (Same with design. Those who think that one should use metaphors in design are destined to produce crappy designs.) "