Usability and User Science

What is UI/UX?

The best practices and standards discussed in the previous module are very helpful for making sure we serve all potential users and support assistive technologies such as screen readers. But these practices and standards don't dictate much in terms of the "end user experience" -- that is, the content the user sees and interacts with in her web browser.

To best serve the user's needs and desire, it's important to think deeply about the experience of the user as they interact with a website. The practice of thinking about this, and conducting research to help guide design and functionality changes, is known as "User Interface and User Experience" design or "UI/UX" for short.

The idea of how easy it is to use a website to accomplish whatever task the website addresses is known as "usability". Usability is difficult to measure, so it is generally gleaned from making observations on users interacting with a website or application. Often the users are videotaped or their screens are recorded as they navigate a site with a specific goal in mind. The process of observing users to see how they use a website and where they encounter difficulty in the process is called "user testing" and it can be approached in many ways.

Conducting user tests and analyzing them is collectively known as "user science". This process may become even more complex given certain techniques such as A/B testing. But the basic goal of user testing is always the same: Determine where user expectations don't match the product you've built.

There are many resources that discuss user testing and usability. In order to get a broader idea of the fundamentals of usability, read Jakob Nielsen's article, "Usability 101: Introduction to Usability". After that, feel free to browse the large archive of Nielsen's other writings.