ABSTRACT
Since 1989 I have been working with a large Dutch software company that develops tailor-made systems for medium-size and large companies, with a focus on banking, insurance, professional services and government. The company provides full services from design, development and implementation to maintenance and consultancy. The company flourished in the 1970s and 1980s when large mainframe-based batch systems where developed. Usability was not important since systems were mainly batch (off-line) and were used by small groups of specially trained users. But as both the computer and the terminal were becoming more popular, the group of users diversified and on-line subsystems were added to the batch. Although the company was well aware of these changes the main focus was still on functionality. Testing concentrated on 'bugs' and functionality, and neither of these tests focused explicitly on usability.
