Usability is a term new to many, but it is a science rooted in the cold war era of military research. From the earliest days of the jet fighter, scientists employed usability techniques to optimise the ability of a machine's user. Today these techniques are practiced across the full spectrum of digital platforms. For example by making an Intranet easier to use, businesses are finding that the productivity of their personnel can grow, support costs are lessened and staff morale is bolstered.

Usability testing is a simple process to understand, but difficult to implement. A Usability Specialist must first audit the platform; this could be Internet, Intranet, WAP, Interactive TV and just about any other interactive digital platform. They will then develop a series of tasks to do on the site, select a user group (composed of the average demographic) and evaluate the individual's ability to use the service.

This can throw up all kinds of inconsistencies, pitfalls and plain old problems. In the case of an intranet, it could translate to hours of lost time as employees become immersed in an unusable system, when they are simply trying to locate a phone number.

Or in the case of an Internet service, the common design for credit card numbers is to feature four sets of four numbers. When users type in these numbers they often add a space between the sets. When companies realise the amount of lost revenue by the user giving up during a payment process can cost them, they are astounded. This can stretch to millions.

In a recent study of online banking sites we found that users looking for a telephone number to guide them through the NatWest site, were led onto The Royal Bank of Scotland page, where the number they were presented with was in fact Edinburgh based. We called this number and were given a London number; they then directed us to the correct web site help line. In terms of wasted time, none of our users were willing to pursue the help line hunt further than Edinburgh. Had they done so, they would have had the combination of 2 national rate calls, an Internet bill and a great deal of hair pulling.

When the basic rules that such research teaches us are applied to the likes of Stepstone, Monster, and Total jobs or even off line recruiters such as Reed or Manpower, it seems that there are those who recognise the needs of their user and those who ignore them.

If Amazon is the benchmark of usability and scores a theoretical 9 out of 10, then UK jobsites score 4 or 5.

The cases for implementing usability guidelines on a recruitment area of a web site are quite glaring, our research has found that a number of multinationals have highly unfriendly sites. Sites that deter some of the best-qualified job applicants, as only the most persistent, or desperate, will devote the required time to the application process.

Sion Mooney, a Recruitment Consultant well versed in usability issues has said "the main barrier between an ideal candidate and your company can very often be a cumbersome process in the online application. A thorough test of the site irons out these problems and can increase enquiries by around 500% so it certainly makes our job easier."

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