Web Site Usability

On a recent project my client wanted his site one way and one way only. He didn’t care about CSS, HTML or how it was done. The point being, what’s behind or driving the website is really irrelevant to the client and the end user.

After that project I realized the whole purpose of a web site is communication. If the website doesn’t effectively communicate with the user then the web site has failed and should be deleted from the internet.

But what constitutes a useable site? We all know one when we see it. So why is it so hard to quantify it? Is it similar to the love paradox – we know love when we see it, but can’t see love when we are in it?

Part of the problem is we get attached to our projects. They become extensions of us. After all we invested many hours into them why shouldn’t they? But this leaves us blind to the errors that we conveniently overlook.

Are there degrees of usability? Some sites that come to mind are: Sitepoint.com, Yahoo and Google. Sitepoint and Yahoo are functional, but I would argue if they are usable because of their clutterness. Google on the other hand is usable; its homepage is straight forward there is no confusing how to use Google.

Just my 2 cents,

Chuck