The Cognitive Tax: Why 'Usable' Isn't Good Enough to Get Raving Customers
The difference between "User Friendly" and "Usable"
Be careful using "User-Friendly" and "Usable" interchangeably.
"Usable" is table stakes, it means with a little work, someone can interpret the tool and get tasks done. The design uses proven interface patterns and a decent navigation schema. It functionally supports the required tasks.
"User friendly" is extremely rare. It means the target user doesn't have to think while using your tool. Because of the perpetual MVP (gambling) culture in most product groups, this is rarely achieved.
"User Friendly" just means the target user can complete the task without thinking. This is agnostic of the effort of the task or the amount of buttons you need to click.
Figma is a very “User-friendly” tool, but I can't say that the effort I put into that task is easy. I'm usually doing high cognitive effort activities. But Figma proactively supports my work so it's a fantastic experience.
You must also be careful using "User-Friendly" with "Usability" interchangeably. Something can be "usable" and not "friendly" to the user. Meaning they can use the tool, but they have to expend cognitive resources to get their job done"
There are a ton of usable systems that still require workarounds and post-its. You know what to do, but the system doesn't 100% support your work so you have to cognitively accommodate the system.
Great example, SAP concur. It is usable, I can book flights on it. But nobody cares since it requires cognitive effort to navigate and use it. (TBH, it isn’t that usable, because it require training, that’s probably why Navan is eating their lunch in Market Share)
Salesforce is usable, their design system is great for implementing basic usability. It is an amazing front-end system and I gave their design team all the credit for making their front-end system flexible for something so ubiquitous in the sales industry. But for every company I work at, the teams that are forced to use SFDC have to use spreadsheets and post-its to reduce cognitive load. Sure, you can make a custom implementation "User-Friendly" but that is rarely made a priority by sales execs.
I was able to buy my son and me tickets to a show using Ticketmaster's app, usable, but I was annoyed at how I got to my desired outcome.
Usable is table stakes, but don't conflate a usable design with "Intuitiveness" "Proactive", and "Cooperative" in a system. "User-Friendly" is very rare.