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The 5 Es of usability 1:11
A 71-second explainer of The 5 Es of usability, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive The 5 Es of usability demo
What this video covers
The 5 Es of usability are Whitney Quesenbery's framework breaking usability into five measurable dimensions: effective, efficient, engaging, error-tolerant and easy to learn. Together they turn the vague idea of "usable" into specific qualities you can design for and assess - and they show that usability is a balance, since these dimensions sometimes pull against each other.
"Is it usable?" splits into five sharper questions: does it work, is it fast, is it pleasant, does it forgive mistakes, is it easy to learn? Score a design on each and the weak spots jump out - and the tensions too, like efficiency for experts fighting easy-to-learn for novices. That's the 5 Es: they turn a fuzzy goal into things you can actually design for and measure, weighted to your users.
