Usability and Perception

Is usability a good thing? Quite a question, since this has been the focus of my profession for so many years. It is one of the most important aspects for me as an Interaction Designer. I do like the puzzling involved, the satisfaction when I succeed in combining apparently conflicting elements, especially when in the end people just liked to use my interface.

Unfortunately there always seemed to be a discrepancy between functionality and usability that I never could could lay my finger on. I value the opinions of Jacob Nielsen, I liked to read his books, every two week I read his column with a lot of interest. (subscribe to Jacob's column: the Alertbox at http://www.useit.com)

You probably know that feeling that something is missing and you can't see it, like it's just around some corner in your mind. Strangely enough -with my fascination for perception- I just missed the influence of perception on usability!

Actually there are two kinds of usability, ‘Usability’ (normal or 'straight' usability) and 'Perceived Usability'. And there is a big difference between the two of them. For instance, users are less likely to use an interface which usability is not perceived, compared to an interface where it is. And please note that this does not say anything about the real usability of the interface!

I used to play Roland Synthesizers (I also played others but I do prefer Roland, I like their sound). At one point, at the institute I was working for, I used a quite complex instrument with lots of possibilities, a great sound. I was very much in love with its sound and wanted to buy one for myself. Unfortunately I did not have the money at that time, and afterwards it was too late, they did not make them anymore, it did not sell, because it looked too complex.

You have to understand that a synthersizer is a complex instrument, especially when you can put several layers of sound onto each other. You have to program each layer separately, compare the result of each change, decide whether this is the sound you were looking for (usually not, at least not in the first try), and then you have to decide what to change in what layer, and so on.
Life for a synthesizer-player is so much easier when you have an overview of the settings in each layer. Otherwise it is like planning a complex route on a map, with only one eye, looking through a small tube.

Unfortunately it did sell bad: too many knobs and sliders and things. The next generation synthesizer did have an 'alpha-wheel' and a small screen. It was very hard to use, but it did look simple. So it sold much better. So much for perceived usability!