Many companies confuse “user experience” with “usability,” which leads to confusion not only during audits. This article distinguishes between the two terms and reveals how you can test both.
1. Definition
1.1. Definition of “user experience”
ISO 9241-210:2011 defines “user experience” as the perceptions and responses of a person resulting from the actual and/or intended use of a product, system, or service.
1.2. Definition of “usability” (usability engineering)
DIN EN ISO 9241-11 defines usability as the extent to which specific users can use a system, product, or service in a particular context of use to achieve specified objectives effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily.
2. Distinction between “user experience” and “usability”
Usability is a characteristic that users only experience while using the product. The perceived benefits, i.e., what the user expects (anticipates) the product to be like and how it will feel to use it, are part of the user experience. In other words, Usability is only part of the user experience.
So if you’ve seen people queuing outside Apple stores in recent years, desperate to buy the latest iPhone, you’ll realize that they weren’t doing so because the products were usable, but because they assumed they were usable and because they associated positive perceptions with these products. And that is precisely what counts as “user experience,” as opposed to Usability.
3. Evaluating the user experience
You can check usability with usability verification and usability validation. These are precisely what regulations such as IEC 62366 address.
You cannot evaluate the anticipated benefits in this way. User surveys, social media monitoring, conferences, etc., are recommended here.
Change history:
- 2020-05-12: Editorial changes
