Usability began to receive the recognition
it deserved back in the 1980s when the importance of usability
and user interface design were acknowledged:
"Interface
design became important because pleasant, attractive, easy-to-use
software sells well." (Sutcliffe, 1988)
As
time has moved on, usability has become an established part
of the development lifecycle for many companies and organizations.
This is due to the benefits afforded to usability, but also
due to the sometimes catastrophic problems that can arise
when usability is overlooked.