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usability

yoo-zuh-BIL-i-tee /ˌjuːzəˈbɪləti/

nounB2TOEFLIELTS

professionalacademic

The ease of use and learnability of a human-made object or system.

Focuses on how intuitive, efficient, and satisfying a product is for its intended users to achieve their goals.

The story behind the word. While 'usable' has been in English since the 14th century, 'usability' emerged as a distinct technical term in the late 20th century with the rise of software engineering and human-computer interaction.

Word relationships

user-friendliness: User-friendliness is an informal term, while usability is a formal, measurable engineering metric.

inoperability: Inoperability means a system cannot be operated at all, whereas poor usability means it can be operated but with great difficulty.

Commonly confused with

utility: Utility is about functionality (what the system does), while usability is about user experience (how easily the user can do it).

Word family

usable (adjective): Able or fit to be used.
use (verb): Take, hold, or deploy as a means of accomplishing something.

Collocations

usability testing
usability engineering
system usability

Example sentences

"The usability of the new mobile application was tested with a group of elderly users to ensure it was intuitive." Software testing

Memory hook

Usability is the 'ability' of a normal human to 'use' a product without getting frustrated. Usability = Use + Ability.

When not to use

Do not confuse with 'utility', which refers to whether a product has the necessary features, not how easy those features are to use.

Fun facts

The 'three-click rule' is an unofficial usability rule suggesting that a user should be able to find any information on a website with no more than three mouse clicks.