Learnability Isn't Enough: How to Design Apps That Are Easy to Use in the Long Run, Not Just the First Run

Some UX problems are temporary. Others are permanent.

This book provides a unique framework to proactively find and fix permanent sources of UI effort. This helps you create apps that are both easy to learn and efficient in long-term use.

Whether you’re a seasoned product & UX professional or just starting out, this book is your guide to elevating the everyday user experience, with practical tools and advice for making your app truly user-friendly day after day.

Inside, you’ll learn:

• How to catch long-term issues that often aren’t noticed right away
• How to spot key improvements and make wiser decisions about where to focus your design efforts
• How to keep users happy from version to version when updating or redesigning your app

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In "Learnability Isn’t Enough," Hans van de Bruggen delves deep into the realm of permanent "ergonomic" effort-the effort that remains even after the learning phase. Through insightful analysis, practical tools, and real-world examples, this book teaches you how to design apps that are not only easy to learn but also easy to use, day in and day out.

Core to this approach is understanding that some sources of effort are temporary, while others are permanent. Learning where to click is a temporary effort that fades with familiarity. In contrast, issues like difficult-to-hit buttons or hard-to-distinguish status indicators are permanent and persist over time. Users can’t make an inconvenient button more convenient on their own, leaving them with this difficulty long-term.

Making matters worse, many of these issues only become apparent after prolonged use, which means they often go unfixed until after users have had a poor experience. Instead, this book provides tools to identify and address these issues proactively. By learning to spot permanent effort in the design phase, you can effectively "see the future" and address the sources of effort that will persist for users in the long run.

Discover innovative methods like the CUPID System, speed running, and the Usability Matrix to evaluate and enhance the efficiency and comfort of your interfaces. With these user-centered design principles and tools, you can design products that satisfy and delight users over the long term, avoiding common pitfalls that frustrate and alienate even the most loyal customers.

Whether you’re a seasoned UX professional or just starting out, "Learnability Isn’t Enough" is your guide to elevating the everyday user experience, ensuring that your products are not just usable but truly user-friendly.

Enhance your design process with the only book focused entirely on long-term usability. Get your copy today and start making a lasting impact on your users’ experience.

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What readers are saying

"A new method of approaching usability [with] an in-depth look at solving harder-to-spot issues."

"An excellent guide to building user interfaces strategically."

"Changed my perspective [about] building any app or software UI"

"I learned so many things from your book!"

"A practical guide for designers [with] tools to proactively identify and solve user interface issues"

"Really opened my eyes. I appreciated the CUPID framework. I already had many knowledge in the field, but this framework [helped] make things more structured."

Hans has been captivated by interaction design ever since building a website at 14 that helped to lift his family out of poverty. He has led product & UX design at startups and industry giants like Netflix and LinkedIn. His expertise has been sought out by the New York Times, and his work has been showcased in publications in the tech industry and beyond, including TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Wired, PCMag, BGR, Variety, and Esquire. Hans is the author of Learnability Isn't Enough, a guide to designing apps that are easy to use in the long run, not just the first run.