Source: Sitepoint. The Usability Kit.

Something fundamental to usability and a successful user experience is the focus on users.  Sometimes designers have little time to concentrate on users and even less time to interact or observe them.  We are focus in delivery dates and technical problems.

But users are really important, are crucial for the success of the website.   The following are some general statements about users:

• Users are not like you! Many developers make the mistake of forming design decisions based on their own personal preferences. If you had absolutely no information about your users, then that’s probably the only sensible approach you could take. However, unless you’re designing for other web developers, it’s likely that your users are far less sophisticated (in terms of their web site usage) than you are. They’re likely to be confused by things you find obvious, baffled by things you find simple, and annoyed by things you find convenient.

• The best way to get a working knowledge of users is to spend time with them. Getting into the habit of observing people using web sites will pay dividends over and over again.

• Users do the strangest things! Anyone who has spent time watching people use products will tell you that users do things that the designers never dreamed of.

• Users will make or break your web site. After all, it’s the extent to which real people can carry out real tasks on the site that justifies the site’s existence. There’s little point in having a visually attractive and technically sophisticated site if your customers are unable to use it.

• User experience is increasingly a key differentiator. As customers have more access to alternative providers, it’s the companies that can differentiate themselves as being better that will thrive.

There really is more to the field of usability than just relying on common sense. In addition to understanding some core concepts, there’s a lot to be gained by performing some in-depth analysis on each individual project, incorporating the results of this analysis into your design, utilizing design conventions so as to not reinvent the wheel, and confirming your design by running usability tests.