Making products usable: closing the gap between what products can do and what users know how to do with them

Obstacles to functional accessibility and ways to overcome these obstacles are described. The provision of accessibility by designing a front-end interface is considered, and the development of a theory of functionally accessible design is discussed. It is pointed out that designing products today challenges one to provide a great deal of function in such a way that it can be easily used. Both high function and ease of use are important to product sales and customer satisfaction, and they are not always easy to combine. It is concluded that one must tell people how to apply complex functions, yet one knows that few people read directions except as a last resort