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ATTENTION: If you're thinking, "international standards are boring," keep reading. I won't be detailing every web application development standard we use – I'll just be explaining why they're important.
We understand the usability standard are probably low on your concerns, and that is okay. It is not important for the clients we build our applications for, or their users, to understand usability standards. But it is extremely critical that the people building those applications have a deep understanding of usability standards.
Usability standards are implemented to make the applications you use become a seamless part of your life. We know we've done everything right in an application development project when the users of the app can't imagine not using it.
There have been plenty of great innovations in user experience design in the last 15 years we have been in business, and it can be difficult to keep up with all of the trends. That is why we always measure the value of any new innovation to determine if it is right for our projects.
For example, one of the best tools for determining what new features and innovations provide the most value in the last 10 years has been part 9214 - 210 of the International Organization of Standards, also know as Ergonomics of human-system interaction, Part 210: Human-centred design for interactive systems.
I know that sounds like a long and seemingly boring topic, but being user experience nerds, we can't get enough of it. It is a powerful tool that gives us a process to understand requirements, design solutions and evaluate existing designs. The great thing about this process is that it can work with any type of design and development process our clients need from waterfall to agile to rapid development.
At it's core, ISO 9214 - 210 is about creating a clear understanding of how a user will interact with a system. This allows us to make a streamlined application that solves the needs of the users and avoids distracting them with features that don't help them. We used the processes we learned from these standards on projects like Siteman Cancer Center, Explore St. Louis, and many more.
When it comes to usability for web application development If you would like to learn more about our process and tools and how they can help your business, drop us a line!
