The hygiene factor of usability

“Old-school usability espouses the idea that user activities are onerous tasks that they want to get out of the way as soon as possible. While this is true in some cases, usability is now widely understood to be more of a hygiene factor–something that can cause dissatisfaction if missing, but its presence cannot take you beyond lack of dissatisfaction.” – Harry Brignull

Read more in Harry’s article “‘Just add an egg’ – Usability, User Experience and Dramaturgy”

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1. Findability precedes usability. You can’t use what you can’t find.
2. Usability is more than common sense
3. Usability is a necessary condition for survival
4. Usability is like love
5. Usability really just means making sure that something works well