It is common for usability to be thought of as the whole user experience. The term is used to describe what a user thinks and feels about an interface; how intuitive it is, how easy it is to use, how easy it is to learn. But usability is just a small part of the user experience whole. When we examine what usability means – how easy it is to use and learn - it becomes apparent that it is an attribute of the user interface.

People often think that making a product usable creates a good user experience, but there is more to it than that. Whilst usability is most definitely an important factor that contributes to the user experience, only concentrating on usability neglects other aspects of the experience.

Peter Morville's UX Honeycomb was created to help his clients understand just that. Each facet is representative of a part of the user experience.

The UX Honeycomb consisting of 7 facets; usable, useful, desirable, valuable, findable, credible, accessible.

Useful

If your product does not solve a problem or fulfill a need that its user has, then the need for that product quickly evaporates. We must always be aware of our users and their changing needs and behaviors in order for our work to stay relevant and useful.

Usable

Ease of use and learnability are key to retaining those who already use your product, and yet it only relates to the user interface. Although important, it does not encompass all of the considerations required for good user experience design.

Desirable

Although this is rather intangible, the importance and value that elements of emotional connections to a brand, an identity, or a product can have significant bearing on the overall experience.

Findable

A user must be able to find what it is they need to be able to get the job done.

Accessible

We must strive to make the things we build available to everyone, regardless of physical or cognitive impairments.

Credible

The product must be trustworthy. It must allow the user to believe what we tell them.

Valuable

The product must deliver value, not only to the user’s satisfaction, but to that of the stakeholders, and to the bottom line of the business.

The UX Honeycomb is a useful, high level tool to help stakeholders to get a better understanding of what user experience is, why it's important, and can help smooth the communication between the user experience practitioners and those who are not well versed in the more detailed and complex concepts of UX design.

You can also use it to help prioritise design work, and help you to continuously iterate and improve upon areas of your product or service that fall short of the ideals which can be held in each facet of the UX Honeycomb, and ensure that we're thinking of our users whenever we refer to these 7 aspects of good user experience design.