Usability and the Web
The Web is many things but primarily it is a means to communicate. Business transactions, e-mail, encyclopedias, games, etc. are all a form of communication on some level. When analyzing the basic structure of the Internet and the World Wide Web we can see that essentially, no matter what type of interaction the end user is engaging in, there is a transfer of information that is enabling that interaction to take place.

History Lesson
Since the very beginnings of the Internet, and more specifically the WWW, there have been obstacles to overcome in order for the masses to be able to access and interface with this communication technology. Without rehashing the entire history of this phenomenon we’ll quickly review some of the key obstacles:

1. Cost - Computers were extremely expensive in the early days making cost a prohibitive element to access.

2. Network/Access - There was not a worldwide network in the early days and this had to be built.

3. Interface - The method of interfacing with the technology was not standardized and also was extremely technical so only those dedicated to this steep learning curve were granted access.

4. Bandwidth - The small bandwidth available prohibited many transactions from taking place and thus influenced the type of content available.

There are many other obstacles not mentioned but as is evident most of these barriers have or are being addressed and are less of a concern as they once were.

When trying to determine the Internet’s place in history many comparisons have been made to pre-existing technology. The printing press, telephone, radio and television have all been compared to the Internet. While none of these comparisons truly paralell the Internet and it’s global impact they are valuable guages of the type of progress we should expect in the development of the Internet and the WWW.

Saturation
It was recently reported that nearly half of the households in the United States have access to the Internet in their homes. This number has grown rapidly in the past few years and is really astounding when compared with the relatively small length of time for this new communication method to reach this level of saturation in the US.

What we have seen since this level of saturation is a slow-down of new WWW usage. The initial growth was astonishing but unlike television, radio and telephone virtual total market saturation has not yet been achieved and is not on pace to happen any time soon.

Obstacle
Many have been debating the reason for this slow-down in Web integration and many of the earlier cited obstacles are credited with causing this slowdown.

However, when each obstacle is carefully examined and then contrasted with analagous technologies these obstacles become less real and more imagined.

Cost - Cost is not really a factor. Web access per month is about $20. Phone service is at least that for basic service. Cable bills (which admittedly don’t count for the total market) are much more than that. A better comparison is the time we spend watching commercials and how much that time would be worth if we were doing something that generates revenue. Newspaper, magazine, journal subscriptions are often close to $20 a month in a household. So the cost factor is not realistically prohibitive.

The hardware cost (computer, monitor and modem) is substantial. However, a used and sometimes new system is often less than a television. And even though a television takes a much longer time to become obsolete a computer can easily last 5 years or more and still perform many of the basic Web functions.

Access - Access is virtually universal. There is almost no place in the United States where Web access is not possible.

Bandwidth - Bandwidth constraints are still very real but are not nearly the obstacle they once were. Real, measurable progress is being made and the size of this obstacle is declining daily.

So then, are there any obstacles that can be identified? Something has to be accounting for this slowdown and lack of total saturation.

Usability is the Issue
The answer is YES. The last and greatest obstacle to the Web is Usability. This is also the greatest obstacle to computer use in general.

Usability has come a long way since the early days but it still has a long way to go. The learning curve is still extremely high, especially when compared to telephone, television and radio. Think of the early incarnations of these devices. They were all extremely simple to use. Practically no instructions were needed. As technology progressed more features were added but the basic function remained unchanged. There was almost no barrier to actually using these products.

This is not true of Web usage. Many “newbies” become intimidated by the many menus, back buttons, JavaScript messages, virus warnings, spammings, trojan horses, plug-in requirements, browser incompatibilities, platform and OS conflicts and on and on and on.

It’s no wonder grandma in Iowa is never going to get on the Web. She never would have used a telephone if the numbers on each one were different, only calls to certain phones were permitted and an attachment must be snapped on before making each call.

Solution???
What is to be done? How can this usability issue be addressed and solved? Well the answers are not simple nor easy. But as with all technology advances must be made and hopefully will be made to make Web usage much simpler. To compare the Web to the telephone again we can see that the Web is almost still in the telegraph stage. It’s usable but only by those willing to learn morse code. The next big leap is to make the Web as easy to use as the telephone.

The means to be used enabling this leap is not exactly clear. In the meantime all Web designers, developers and producers should consider the inadequacies of the Web and work to provide an experience that is as user friendly as possible.

Basically don’t forget grandma in Iowa.