Web Usability for Not-for-Profit Organisations

Abstract

One of the common aspects of software design is to focus on building systems that are easier for people to learn and use, so as to improve their performance at work. The term “usability” has become so popular that it has been applied to many aspects of life (e.g., the usability of customer services or organisational usability (Kling & Elliott, 1994). This paradigmatic design approach appears to be increasingly important as complex technology allows us to connect more and more devices with people, so the essential aspects of usability—ease of learning, ease of use, useful, and pleasant to use—have been widely used as a basis for design. Indeed, the four usability dimensions proposed by Gould and Lewis (1985) have been applied to many design practices, and Web portal design is similarly an application area where usability is important. Hence, portal developers for commercial organizations should be aware of usability issues in order to obtain and retain visitors to their Web site. It is very obvious that a well-designed Web site helps to generate revenue for commercial organisations via online sales or advertising.