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Much of what we're talking about when we refer to usability

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is going to relate to a couple of concepts that many people

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connect with websites and design.

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I'm talking about user experience, or UX, and user interface, UI.

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So let's define, once and for all, what the differences are

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between usability, UX, and UI,

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and in the end we should have a better idea how to improve all of them.

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A website user experience refers to the set of reactions

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that users have to their interaction with the entire site—

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from the beginning of their visit to the end.

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When the site first appears, the user has a reaction to it—

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do they like it or dislike it?

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Are they confused, or immediately interested?

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As they go through the site, does it work as expected?

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Do all the links go to the right places?

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Does everything appear to be in order, or is the user confused about where things are?

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Is using this site making them happy and satisfied,

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or unhappy and dissatisfied?

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The user experience refers to the reactions to everything—

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from simply looking at the site to interacting with it.

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User interface refers to how users can interact with the site.

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If users are looking for something specific, they may look

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for menus or search boxes, or both to guide their way.

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These elements are part of the interface,

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as well as order forms, carousels, sliders, and other things that you can click,

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drag, and mouse over to produce some kind of response.

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However, the content you produce can also serve as the interface.

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Take a site like Pinterest, where almost the entire view

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is made up of images of content that users are sharing.

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Those images serve as the navigation that you click to find more information.

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We've talked about the experience users have and their interaction with the site,

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well, finally, usability refers to how easy that interaction is.

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Were the menus you built for your site easy to read, understand, and manipulate?

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Was the text easy to read and understand?

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Very often, usability issues can affect how well users find things,

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like products and details, or their ability to

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complete forms to purchase things, or generate content.

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If any one of these interactions is not positive,

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it means that a usability issue exists.

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Understand that the usability of every website is different

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because the design, the content, and the users are all different, as well.

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One size does not fit all when designing sites and apps

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across various industries or for different clients.

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Now, if you can be proactive and do research,

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you'll be prepared to design a usable UI

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that allows those users to succeed.

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Whether it's adding a button with a perfect text link,

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or designing an intuitive form so that users can order your product,

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a nicely designed user interface will contribute to a positive user experience.

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So, UX, UI, and usability aren't all the same thing,

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but they're certainly aspects of the same mission—

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to give users a positive experience

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through great, intuitive, and usable designs.