Product Management

Usability

If something requires a large investment of time, it’s less likely to be used.
Usability attributes:
- Useful: Does it do the thing that people need done?
- Learnable: Can people figure out how to use it?
- Memorable: Do they have to relearn it every time they use it?
- Effective: Does it get the job done?
- Efficient: Does it get the thing done quickly?
- Desirable: Do people want it?
- Delightful: Do people enjoy using it?
Websites should be self-evident and obvious. People don’t like to puzzle over how to do things.
People don’t read web pages. They scan them, and usually pick the first choice that looks like it will get us where we want to go. Your website should be optimized for that.
Your website is a billboard people are passing by at 60 mph. It shouldn’t have a ton of text or stuff for people to figure out.

The website should be self-explanatory and obvious, such that any individual or average (or below average) ability can figure out how to use it without a lot of training.
The site should be created with a hierarchy such that it can be easily scannable. This means lots of bullet points and not a ton of text.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel for the sake of design. Use common web conventions so that things behave in a way that users expect.
Eliminate noise wherever possible. This means limiting slideshows, animations, pop-ups, and attention-grabbing ads.
Use the smallest amount of text that you need to convey information. No one is going to read everything on the internet (in fact, most people probably won’t even read this write-up!)
Use persistent navigation that stays the same regardless of which page you are on
Use breadcrumbs so users can understand where they are in the hierarchy
Put a title on every page
Don’t hide information like your customer service number or prices

No one reads an entire page. Typically, we scan them and click on the first link that seems relevant to us.
No one weighs every option on a page and then chooses the one that fits best. They choose the first one that seems good enough.
No one spends the time to figure out how something works. They muddle through until they get what they want out of it (or don’t get what they want) and then move on.