Editing Usability (section)

{{short description|Capacity of a system for its users to perform tasks}}
{{Redirect|User-friendly|the webcomic|User Friendly|other uses|User Friendly (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Unusable|unusable electronics|Brick (electronics)|the 1917 German silent film|Unusable (film)}}
[[File:Aula torcao.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Many [[tool]]s are designed to be easy to hold and use for their intended purpose. For example, a [[screwdriver]] typically has a handle with rounded edges and a grippable surface, to make it easier for the user to hold the handle and twist it to drive a screw.]]
'''Usability''' can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Ju Yeon|last2=Kim|first2=Ju Young|last3=You|first3=Seung Ju|last4=Kim|first4=You Soo|last5=Koo|first5=Hye Yeon|last6=Kim|first6=Jeong Hyun|last7=Kim|first7=Sohye|last8=Park|first8=Jung Ha|last9=Han|first9=Jong Soo|last10=Kil|first10=Siye|last11=Kim|first11=Hyerim|date=2019-09-30|title=Development and Usability of a Life-Logging Behavior Monitoring Application for Obese Patients|journal=Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome|language=en|volume=28|issue=3|pages=194–202|doi=10.7570/jomes.2019.28.3.194|issn=2508-6235|pmc=6774444|pmid=31583384}}</ref> In [[software engineering]], usability is the degree to which a software can be used by specified consumers to achieve quantified objectives with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a quantified context of use.<ref>Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminals, ISO 9241–11, ISO, Geneva, 1998.</ref>

The object of use can be a [[software application]], website, [[book]], [[tool]], [[machine]], process, [[vehicle]], or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a ''usability analyst'' or as a secondary job function by [[designer]]s, [[technical writer]]s, marketing personnel, and others. It is widely used in [[consumer electronics]], [[communication]], and [[knowledge transfer]] objects (such as a cookbook, a document or [[online help]]) and [[machine|mechanical]] objects such as a door handle or a hammer.

Usability includes methods of [[measurement|measuring]] usability, such as needs analysis<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Karwowski|editor1-first=W.|editor2-last=Soares|editor2-first=M.M.|editor3-last=Stanton|editor3-first=N.A.|title=Human Factors and Ergonomics in Consumer Product Design: Methods and Techniques (Handbook of Human Factors in Consumer Product Design)|chapter=Needs Analysis: Or, How Do You Capture, Represent, and Validate User Requirements in a Formal Manner/Notation before Design|first=K Tara|last=Smith|publisher=CRC Press|date=2011}}</ref> and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance. In [[human-computer interaction]] and [[computer science]], usability studies the elegance and clarity with which the [[Human–computer interaction|interaction]] with a computer program or a web site ([[web usability]]) is designed. Usability considers [[Computer user satisfaction|user satisfaction]] and utility as quality components, and aims to improve [[User Experience|user experience]] through [[iterative design]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nielsen|first1=Jakob|author-link1=Jakob Nielsen (usability consultant)|title=Usability 101: Introduction to Usability|url=https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/|publisher=[[Nielsen Norman Group]]|access-date=7 August 2016|date=4 January 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901213207/https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-101-introduction-to-usability/|archive-date=1 September 2016}}</ref>