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Sorry Bonnie, but Andrew had it right. Usability is an objective study
into the objective means by which people interact with a product.
Subjectivity indeed exists on the flip side, being the user side of
things. That subjective interaction is indeed studied, but the means
by which data is collected and weighed, the research that goes into
market awareness, the testing that occurs, and the design input, is
all very much objective. If it were not, there would be absolutely no
value gained in conducting usability studies.
Users can think or interact with a product however they like. It's all
well and good to get their feedback too. But subjectivity NEVER enters
proper usability study as more than mere noise. If there's a lot of
noise about a particular feature, then it sets a direction for further
research and testing. However, subjective feedback is never, ever
weighed by itself or in bulk with like subjective comments, in a
non-objective manner.
On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 18:38:33 -0500, Bonnie Granat
<bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com> wrote:
>
> The subject of usability is not related to "objectivity," but the very
> "subjective" act of trying to use something. That's about as subjective as
> one can get. The whole thrust of this discussion has been that you need
> many, not few, "subjects" to develop an understanding of what may or may not
> be wrong with your software.
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