by Kris Vanstappen, Managing Partner

It is striking how many companies have recently (in roughly the last 6 to 9 months) discovered the concept of 'user friendliness'.
It cannot be a coincidence: these companies, from completely different sectors and industries, are suddenly pushing 'user friendliness' as an important quality that differentiates their products or services.
And, in an article in Trends in January 2009, Bruno Leijnse called the usability sector "a niche in full swing".

Of course words and deeds are not the same thing, nor are the will to do something and the ability to do it. But that is not what is most important. The most important thing is that usability demands its obvious and central place in the development process.
Usability is becoming a commodity. This is a sign that an activity is maturing. It is no longer just the happy few or the enlightened spirits who want to integrate usability into their development process. It is no longer 'best practice' to integrate usability.
It is becoming standard practice to involve the user in the development process and by doing so ensure that the end product meets that user's needs and wishes.

That is of course an interesting trend for a company such as Human Interface Group. We have been helping our clients to develop user-oriented products for over 17 years now. We design user interfaces, write user documentation and develop courses. By offering these three groups of services as an integrated whole, Human Interface Group is still the only company that can support a development process from start to finish.
Companies that are jumping on the usability bandwagon now will never be able to make up those 17 years' experience. On the contrary, the difference between superficial usability (such as ticking off checklists or attempting to identify usability problems simply by herding users to a usability lab) and the fundamental, methodical approach to usability as practised by the Human Interface Group will become ever clearer as usability is increasingly regarded as an essential skill.

If this trend continues, the future looks rosy for end users of technology!