importance of SYSTEM USABILITY

It's not surprising anymore when I come across advertisement seeking for UI designers and system usability designers. At last, Malaysian software developers (at least their company's CEO) is taking notice of the importance of SYSTEM USABILITY.

In the past software makers in have the "I make it, you learn it" attitude. Everything is complex. But now competition is so great, you can't afford not to be "user friendly" anymore. Take the Nokia phone OS for example, … compare it to the others. Once upon a time everyone was on a Nokia because it was "user friendly" very easy to learn. But that was in the past. Look at any phones now, … they are all as "user friendly" as any other phone.

So what else can software makers offer. Well.. I'm no pro but I believe making a system as "usable" as possible is the next key to successful system.

It's like playing The Sims. You need a house (the system). Any Sim (the user) can survive with the basic food, bed and toilet (the core of the system). But, a better designed house (a better more usable system) will have the food, bed and toilet strategically place so the Sim will not have to walk a mile to get to one place to another (hence in the system perspective a faster application++).

This is when UI and system usability designer plays a really important role.

Microsoft Windows dominate the 90% to 95% of the OS market share because of their "user friendliness" but with all the flaky bits of the OS dropping of here and there… That will make the OS less usable in time. I believe there are hardcore Windows user (and Linux and Mac OS as well) that will support the OS for a long long time, but for me, (and I think I speak for all the typical computer user and maybe some geeks out there) I really don't care who is building the OS. All I was is a simple, usable and affordable OS and hey I'm down with it. An OS need not be all geeky for a geek to user. Make it usable… have an option to geek the OS according to the geekiness level! Muahahha!

...speaking of usability... is Nokia phones more usable that others? A Samsung mobile user once complained that it takes a few press of a buttons to get to the text messaging screen where else it's only one press for Nokia phones. I deciding whether I should buy a Nokia or something else. Any comments? I got to get my hands on a phone soon because I have been getting a lot of scolding lately, and what if my prospect employer wants to contact me for an interview?!! Shit.. I need a phone quick.