Delivering efficiently designed web sites that people can use in an effective and positive manner can be a challenging task. Even the most experienced web designers and developers admit that the interface design is one the most difficult tasks they have to accomplish.

User satisfaction and ease of learning, combined with likelihood of errors while performing the tasks the site has been designed for, are critical factors of usability.

A usable site dramatically improves users' satisfaction, ability to learn and remember the site content and organization. This directly results in reduced errors and leads to more effective and efficient user activity.

Usability is particularly important to e-commerce sites, portals, corporate identity sites and intranets.

Research indicates that more efficient user tasks lead to better sales, and increased satisfaction leads to increased trust and helps build your company's brand. Increased effectiveness, satisfaction and trust lead to increased customer loyalty. Further, reduced errors and more effective user activities lead to a higher percentage of successful transactions.

To be short, only fools reject usability. Saving a few bucks on usability testing today may cost your company thousands of dollars in lost revenues tomorrow. So ignore usability at your own risk.