Learnability Isn't Enough: How to Design Apps That Are Easy to Use in the Long Run, Not Just the First Run

by Hans van de Bruggen, James Robinson-Prior (Developmental Editor), Julie Meridian (Developmental Editor)

The only book focused entirely on long-term usability

Many usability issues with digital products and user interfaces (UI) only get noticed and fixed after users have had a chance to spend some time with them. Unfortunately, this approach relies on painful experiences being reported by users. This allows smaller annoyances to linger—while bigger issues can be truly disastrous.

Instead, this book will show you a new method for catching many of these types of issues ahead of time so that user pain can be minimized. You’ll learn how to do this by making an uncommon distinction between two different types of effort: learning effort and ergonomic effort.

Doing so unlocks a set of tools that enable you to:

• Narrow in on issues that often aren’t noticed right away
• Keep users happy while making substantial changes to interfaces
• Spot key design improvements and make wiser decisions on where to focus your efforts

Ultimately, the tools and techniques in this book allow you to spare users from pain they might otherwise be faced with while saving time and effort. It’s a shortcut to designing products that aren’t just easy to learn, but are easy to use every day.

Genres: Usability, Design

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2023

Reviews

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read, clear and concise. With good examples to explain its concepts and place it in a real world setting. Make your interfaces go from stupid to cupid. If that last word confused you, you will get it after reading the book.

[Yitzchok Sabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The general concept is great, it does get high repetitive.