Why Usability?

Hello everyone!

This is the first official usability-related post for the Usability Rocks blog!

Before I begin, Happy 2007 to everyone.

Today's post contains random ramblings on why usability has not made more of an impact in the technological world that we live in today. Usability is probably the first thing to be cut from a project when the budget is tight, but one of the major money savers for any project in any company out there.

Well, this is something that usability specialist and advocates have known for some time now. Usability's stock continues to rise as tech giants and pioneers like Google and Apple flex their corporate positioning muscles and continue to innovate while focusing on the user experience. Their products and success alone provide the reasons for any company to value and continue pursuing good usability.

Yet, even with these excellent role models to follow, so many companies do not take the time to include usability in their product development, and many do not know what usability is in the first place. Are they afraid of what it may costs? Or maybe they are scared of what they already know...that they are in DESPERATE need of a usability team? I think part of the reason is, like the technology that it is used on, usability is sometimes considered too new. It's too wet behind the ears, too eager to jump into the software delivery methodology that is many times restrictive and inflexible because of common rusting agents such as close-mindedness and fear of new ideas and techniques.

Slowly and surely, the industry is growing and gaining newfound respect, thanks in part to technology giants who consider usability an integral part of their development life cycle. It makes sense that sooner or later, that other companies will catch on to the value of usability, and in an effort to compete with the leaders of their fields, emulate them in an effort to work as they do. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery, as they say.