When learning about the fundamentals of design, one of the core things you’ll need to grasp is making your platform friendly to the people who use it. While usability and user experience may sound like two peas in a pod, they are less two sides of the same coin and more two different considerations that form a vital part of the final product.
So, how do usability goals differ from user experience goals, and what do these terms mean? We’ve covered everything you need to know below to distinguish your UX from your usability:
What is user experience?
User experience refers to an individual’s interaction with a platform or service and how that experience makes them feel. This encompasses a range of different things, from the branding of a product to the emotion they feel. The ultimate goal of UX is how the audience perceives their interaction with a website or platform.
What is usability?
Usability is less about how visitors feel about the platform in general but more about how functional and easy it is to use as a whole. Usability testing is all about how efficiently and effectively a person can navigate a platform, do what they need to do, and get a satisfying end result when they are finished.
How do usability goals differ from user experience goals?
So, how do usability goals differ from user experience goals? Usability has a crossover component in overall UX testing. The functionality and ease of use of a platform can directly feed into how it is perceived by an outside user. But when it comes to actually working towards the goals of great usability and user experience, there are a few key ways UX and usability differ:
The evaluation methods used
As you might expect, the evaluation process used for usability is more technical and straightforward than the methods used to test UX as a whole. In comparison to UX, usability is relatively black and white; either your platform is usable or needs work to become functional. This makes it easy to measure usability against KPIs and facts and figures. For example, you could measure usability based on how long it takes someone to navigate to a page or how many errors occur during a set amount of time on the platform.
By contrast, user experience as a whole is evaluated based on the goals of perception, purpose, and emotion, amongst other things. This makes it far more challenging to tick a box and say whether something does what it is supposed to or not. Usability has easy-to-follow guidelines, while UX requires more thought and input as part of deciding whether a platform is doing its job or not.
The way success is defined
For user experience, the overall goal of a project is determined by a range of things. Is the website enjoyable, and does it convey the right message? Is the platform fun and engaging to use? By contrast, usability is just one part of the puzzle. Generally, success is defined by whether the platform is easy to use, functional and practical. If you hit all the notes and your platform doesn’t have any blockages or issues, usability can be considered a success.
The main elements considered in design
Usability is focused on these main goal elements in the design stage: learnability, memorability, efficiency, and satisfaction. As usability is mainly concerned with whether you can get around, do the things you need to do, and not need any extra guidance to do so, these elements enable the creation of a framework that functions well and does what you want it to, when you want it to.
User experience, on the other hand, has more overarching themes when it comes to quality of design. The main goals you’ll have include: functionality, trust, value, engagement, and accessibility. Functionality feeds into usability, while the other elements considered look more at whether the platform is suitable for purpose from a range of different angles.
The end result of quality design
Alongside the processes used to reach the highest quality outcome, the actual end result for putting in the work is a crucial difference between usability and user experience.
A website with exceptional user experience, for example, may meet its goal by being engaging, easy to use, enjoyable and capturing the right emotions and sense of value from visitors. Overall, this leads to a platform that ticks all the boxes and delivers the best experience overall to the individual.
A website with excellent usability, on the other hand, will have the goal to be smooth and straightforward to navigate and have ease of use that makes doing what you want effortless. But usability alone doesn’t mean a platform is fun to use, and user experience alone does not imply a platform is easy to get around.
Is there a difference between usability and accessibility goals?
As two components in UX design, the goals of usability and accessibility are similar but not identical. If usability is related to how efficient someone can get around a platform, accessibility’s goals are to allow all users to gain full usability out of that system. For example, usability could be creating a website that’s easy to navigate and enjoyable to find information on. The goal of accessibility would be to make sure everyone can access that platform, including individuals with disabilities or those using mobile or test-to-speech.
Do usability and user experience work together?
It may seem common sense that usability and user experience work together. With the two goals in tandem, it’s far easier to meet customer expectations and create a platform that is as easy to use as it is enjoyable to visit. While there are many overlaps, this doesn’t necessarily mean the two always see eye to eye.
Sometimes, it makes sense to focus more on usability than user experience. An example of this could be an app or service with a specific technical purpose, where usability is a greater priority. The opposite is also true, particularly in marketing websites and materials where the goal is innovation and the ‘wow factor’ as opposed to easy usability. It all depends on the individual project and which goals are more important to meet.
Want to learn more about UX? Learn UX design online today at The UX Philosophy. Start by checking out our courses, or get in touch with us today to find out how we could help you.
