Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides an introduction to the issue of ‘usability’. It introduces the concept of usability – what usability means in ‘lay person’s terms’ and how it has been defined formally and operationalised. The book looks at the principles of designing for usability – the characteristics that separate usable designs from those that are not usable. It outlines the elements of a design process which are required in order to guarantee that usability issues are adequately tackled. The book focuses on usability evaluation. It outlines a series of methods for evaluating usability. The book describes what is required in order to conduct an effective usability evaluation. It provides an overview of what usability is and have a basic understanding of what must be taken into account in order to design for usability and conduct usability evaluations.