Too often the actual users of a product are involved only in the early design phases of application development or at the very end of it, when making significant changes is too late. Usability approach is an iterative process that has several stages, all the way from getting to know the user to collecting feedback after actual use.
Planning resources for usability work in the project. Usable applications do not just create themselves; they are the result of hard work in the early phases of an application development project.
Knowing the user and context of use. Prioritising application features and designing dialogues according to user workflow requires a thorough understanding of the intended users, their objectives, and the usage context. Making assumptions is not enough, unless your application is going to be used by UI designers and application developers only.
Testing with normal users early and often. Actual users of the application should be involved in every phase of application design. The first user tests can be conducted with paper prototypes before any code has been written
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