Usability! Usability! Usability!

{This Wordle or word cloud was created from the text at Usability 101 by Jakob Nielsen }

The word cloud above serves to remind that usability of any innovation is paramount: words that occur frequently in a text, and imply importance, are seen clearly!  Interestingly, the word design jumps out at you with words connected to the user bearing down! 

Significant I think! 

It affirms the words by Robert Wright that Vicente includes in the opening pages of, The Human Factor:

"Your brain may give birth to any technology, but other brains will decide whether the technology thrives. The number of possible technologies is infinite, and only a few pass this test of affinity with human nature."

Line Up by Logan Brumm

 I was reminded of this concept recently on a visit to the Chinook Movie Theaters, here in Calgary. My family rarely go out to see movies these days due to in-home convenience, but this was a special occasion and we looked forward to dining out and seeing a new release!

And then we experienced the automatic ticket vending machines which are placed almost immediately at the top of the escalators. I'm sure on a non-new-release-night this necessary process and technology runs very smoothly. 

However, this wasn't one of those nights!

There seemed to be hundreds of bodies milling around, trying to attach themselves to a ticket queue, but more people kept plopping  from the top of the escalator and immediately affixing themselves to the ever growing lineup, which was gradually working its clumsy way DOWN the escalator! I think the egg in this picture expresses our dilemma very well!. We were all in jeopardy! Needless to say, the ticket machines also seemed to think this and several immediately protested at the hustle, bustle, and non-to-pleasant comments...they too became overloaded and quit! The machines kindly suggested we line up to use a different machine! Hardly conducive to a pleasant and worry free experience!

Essentially, the designers and creators of this environment and its technological gadgetry had not, it seems, fully considered the human factor. For example, much observation of people in the natural setting may have led to  possible experiences of varying traffic pattern fluctuations. This knowledge could then have been applied, say, to the placement of items. As well, product mock-ups that could demonstrate what happens when more people than expected try to use the technology would have allowed for iterative design of the ticket machine technology.

What did we do?
We went home and played board games...much more accessible!

Usability? Usability? Usability?You bet!