Usability

How easily and effectively people can accomplish their goals using a product or system, while having a positive experience.

Usability refers to the measurement of how easily a user can accomplish their goals when using a service. This is usually measured through established research methodologies under the term “usability testing,” which includes success rates and customer satisfaction. Usability is one part of the larger user experience (UX) umbrella. While UX encompasses designing the overall experience of a product, usability focuses on the mechanics of making sure products work as well as possible for the user.

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA) and M-23-22

21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA) and M-23-22

Resources on Usability

  • An introduction to content

    Best practices for creating clear, useful, digital content for federal websites and digital services.

  • Usability Testing with Steve Krug

    Get started making usability fixes to your website or product.

  • Department of Homeland Security: Usability Testing Kit

    A resource with four approaches to help federal employees perform usability testing.

  • 18F Methods

    A collection of tools that describe how teams can put human-centered design into practice.

  • Usability Starter Kit

    Here are some tools and templates to help you create better user experiences.

  • Fueleconomy.gov – Extended Case Study

    Like any valid business decision, User Experience work should produce results and demonstrable impact. To see a list of screenshots from websites we’ve improved, visit the rest of our Usability Case Studies. Or see a more complete case study below. Case Study: Fueleconomy.gov Mobile Site In December of 2012

  • Government Usability Case Studies

    This list of government usability case studies shows how government sites, mobile apps and other products become more effective, more coherent and more usable by focusing on the User Experience of their customers. Want to be featured here? Just email us. National Cancer Institute Persona

Join a Community of Practice

Usability events

Annual Gathering

Spring 2024 Community Summit

Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.
2024
Making sense: Cognition, perception, and design
Watch Video

Hosted by Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System

2023
Join the Design System team as we tackle your most commonly-asked questions.
Watch Video

Hosted by Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System

2023

Usability news

18F at ten

We’re celebrating all the ways we continue to realize our founding vision: bringing technologists into government, launching shared digital services, and helping partner agencies build user-centered technology. — via 18F

18F logo

Mar 19, 2024

Search.gov year in review: 2023 report

Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each. — via Search.gov

Search.gov logo

Mar 15, 2024

Resources on Usability

  • An introduction to content

    Best practices for creating clear, useful, digital content for federal websites and digital services.

  • Usability Testing with Steve Krug

    Get started making usability fixes to your website or product.

  • Department of Homeland Security: Usability Testing Kit

    A resource with four approaches to help federal employees perform usability testing.

  • 18F Methods

    A collection of tools that describe how teams can put human-centered design into practice.

  • Usability Starter Kit

    Here are some tools and templates to help you create better user experiences.

  • Fueleconomy.gov – Extended Case Study

    Like any valid business decision, User Experience work should produce results and demonstrable impact. To see a list of screenshots from websites we’ve improved, visit the rest of our Usability Case Studies. Or see a more complete case study below. Case Study: Fueleconomy.gov Mobile Site In December of 2012

  • Government Usability Case Studies

    This list of government usability case studies shows how government sites, mobile apps and other products become more effective, more coherent and more usable by focusing on the User Experience of their customers. Want to be featured here? Just email us. National Cancer Institute Persona

More News and Events on Usability

132 posts

18F at ten

We’re celebrating all the ways we continue to realize our founding vision: bringing technologists into government, launching shared digital services, and helping partner agencies build user-centered technology. — via 18F

18F logo

Mar 19, 2024

Search.gov year in review: 2023 report

Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each. — via Search.gov

Search.gov logo

Mar 15, 2024

Annual Gathering

Spring 2024 Community Summit

Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.
2024

Why the American People Deserve a Digital Government

OMB released new policy guidance for government that includes a variety of actions and standards to help federal agencies design, develop, and deliver modern websites and digital services. Memo M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, will make it seamless for the public to obtain government information and services online, and help agencies fully implement the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA). — via The White House

The White House logo

Sep 22, 2023

Making sense: Cognition, perception, and design
Watch Video

Hosted by Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System

2023

Testing Beta for Accessibility

The USAGov team strives to ensure all our websites are accessible to as many people as possible. This includes those who need the use of specialized assistive technologies when browsing the internet. In building beta.USA.gov we deliberately validated that it met Section 508 and WCAG 2.0 compliance requirements. Our testing approach includes a three step hybrid method that may be suitable for other agency use. — via USA.gov

USA.gov logo

Mar 16, 2023

Join the Design System team as we tackle your most commonly-asked questions.
Watch Video

Hosted by Digital.gov and the U.S. Web Design System

2023