Usability refers to the actual use of a website - not the design or visual aspects of a site but the user experience. Meaning - can they access the site and complete their tasks easily? Key usability issues to consider when designing a site include:
- Can the user accomplish their goal
- Does it require a lot of effort or focus to complete the task
- Is the site intuitive or easily learnabe
- Is it simple
One way to really look into usability is to look at usability testing, which provides you with how users actually experience your website or app. Users self report on their ability to use the site by performing tasks they are instructed to do.
I have been part of a such testing for website design in a survey. I was instructed to navigate through different areas of a website and then provide my feedback. In some cases they had me simply look at a section and then try to recall items from the page without any prompting. It's a really great experience and I'm sure provides good feedback to the designers (so long as their test subjects stay focused and on task!)
Here are some sample sites with great user usability:
- www.glossybox.com
- https://www.letote.com/
- www.birchbox.com
These sites are pretty straight forward, I can get to the topics/areas very easily. And if I want sign up for the service its also very simple and straight forward.
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