Badly designed software and web portals costs US businesses and government departments billions of dollars each year because they're too difficult to use or don't fulfill their core purpose.
Many customers and employees may accept software shortcomings as a fact of life, but usability issues can add as much as 50% to the total cost of software ownership. In the worst case scenario the software gets shelved when users reject it.
the benefits of usability
Software and portal usability improvements reduce training times, increase productivity, lower total cost of ownership, and help motivate customers and employees to take up new systems. User-focused software development is highly cost-effective, benefiting not only the end user, but also the system developers, support staff, trainers, and documentation teams.
The wrong focus
The causes of poorly designed software and portals are well documented yet they continue to this day. It often comes down to the orientation of the developers. Many developers focus on the technology without any regard to the users. Problems arise when requirements documents are inadequate or incomplete, business processes are ignored and user-testing is skipped.
The right way
The developer's challenge is to ensure the final outcome matches, as much as possible, the client's initial vision. To do this cost-effectively the design must be tested by users before coding begins. If usability problems are identified at this stage they can be fixed inexpensively and quickly. Missing this step usually makes the difference between success and failure. The end result is software and portals that deliver the desired results, within the allotted time frame and budget, but without the typical frustrations.
we can help
VisionFoundry is a custom software design and development company that works with government & military organizations, law enforcement agencies, and medium-to-large corporations. We create a competitive advantage for our clients through user-focused software design and development.
VisionFoundry is U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) Certified and a Woman-owned Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB).
To find out if we can help you, check out the types of organizations we work best with.
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