Many factors affect a corporation's decisions about which software products to purchase. One key factor is any software's usability. In simple terms, usability reflects the following:
Software developers employ a variety of techniques to ensure software usability. In general terms, these techniques involve studying users to develop an understanding of their needs and iteratively refining versions of the software based on usability testing results. In making purchase decisions, companies and organizations have traditionally had little indication of how usable a product would be or how much training and support its users would need. The situation has made it difficult to compare products, to plan for support, or to estimate total cost of ownership. In October of 1997, the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated an effort, including the IUSER project, to increase the visibility of software usability. Cooperating in the IUSR project are prominent suppliers of software and representatives from large consumer organizations. The goals of the initiative are to:
Usability testing can be valuable for a wide range of products, however the IUSR project is initially focused only on software. We recognize that the usability of hardware (printers, copiers, fax machines, and so on) is important and often tightly integrated with software. The initial focus on software was intended to narrow the focus of the initial project so that a pilot study could be conducted. Extending the scope of the reporting standard to include hardware and other products should be addressed later in the project. |