Have you ever used an application or a website and gotten stuck because something didn’t work quite right? What did you do? Unless you’re like me, you probably gave up and didn’t bother saying anything about it (unless it was something mission-critical like online banking). Now I’m a little bit unique in that I am quick to write up an email to the developers of the application complete with screen shots and supporting information but that’s because I’m obsessed with usability. Most people tend to ignore it and simply stop using the application.
This is a warning to software developers everywhere who create applications and websites: users keep secrets. When things don’t work quite right, you may not know about it. Your users don’t want to take the time to send you a screen shot, write up a detailed description of the problem, or even try to figure out who to contact. They simply want it to work and when it doesn’t, they move on.
For this reason, it is the responsibility of software developers to test, re-test, and anticipate the workflow in their applications. Relying on real-life user testing is not always reliable. As a software developer it’s important to think through scenarios, predict what could go wrong, and proactively resolve the issues.
By analyzing your applications with a more critical eye, you will be able to create more user-friendly and profitable applications.
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