Judging the Severity of Usability Issues on Web Sites: This Doesn't Work

by Dr. Bob Bailey

Usually when a usability test or evaluation is conducted, usability professionals provide a list of potential usability issues for designers to change. These are the issues that are most likely to cause the greatest problems for real-world users. In order to focus their efforts on the most important issues, most designers want this list ranked with the worst usability issues at the top, and the least serious issues at the bottom. The research, however, shows quite clearly that even highly experienced usability professionals seriously disagree when ranking usability issues.