DEFINING USABILITY
The concept of usability is introduced in this paper and related to the possible requirements placed upon employers under the forthcoming European Directive on Display Screen Equipment. A central theme is that usability can be explicitly defined and tested, in a way that can lead to improvements in design. The essential prerequisites to usability are considered-know the users, their characteristics, their tasks and their environment. Usability is then defined in a manner that can incorporate users, tasks and environments to set explicit performance goals relating to the effectiveness, training time and subjective opinions of sample users. In conclusion, usability is seen as an important aspect of product design with potentially important implications for organizations who intend to comply with the European Directive on Display Screen Equipment.
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