--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Findability precedes usability. In the…" description: "\"Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can’t use what you can’t find.\" — Peter Morville" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/peter-morville-52972_alphabet_findability-precedes-usability-in-the-al_1325817.png" --- # Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the… ![“Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can’t use what you can’t find.” quote by Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/peter-morville-52972_alphabet_findability-precedes-usability-in-the-al_1325817.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/peter-morville-52972_alphabet_findability-precedes-usability-in-the-al_1325817.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c39/peter-morville-52972_alphabet_findability-precedes-usability-in-the-al_1325817.png) > “Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. You can’t use what you can’t find.” [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. If something can’t be found, it can’t be used; findability precedes usability in both language and digital spaces. **In simple terms:** Findability is a prerequisite for usability. Key Takeaway Ensure discoverability. Themes usability information design accessibility Mood practical informative Type technical guideline When to use this quote - web design - library science - education Key Concepts searchability cognitive load Questions to Reflect On - How do you improve findability? - What tools aid discoverability? A Different Perspective Neglecting findability wastes effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) [Alphabet Web](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet-web-4432949/) [Findability Precedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/findability-precedes-4432946/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Precedes Usability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precedes-usability-4432948/) [Usability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/usability/) [Usability Alphabet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/usability-alphabet-4432947/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) ## Related quotes > [Developing fewer features allows you to conserve development resources and spend more time refining those features that users really need. Fewer features mean fewer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/developing-fewer-features-allows-you-to-conserve-development/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [“Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what’s left.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-krug/get-rid-of-half-the-words-on-each-page-then-get-rid-of-half-of-what-s/) [Steve Krug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-krug/) > [Far too few designers put any thought into usability, ending up with a great product that's completely inaccessible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dyson/far-too-few-designers-put-any-thought-into-usability-ending-up-with-a/) [James Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dyson/) > [“In any case, even if a usability test resolves a dispute, it doesn't do it in any kind of a statistically valid way. Unless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-spolsky/in-any-case-even-if-a-usability-test-resolves-a-dispute-it-doesn-t-do/) [Joel Spolsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-spolsky/) > [Workflow and usability are not afterthoughts; they impact the core of any project and dictate how it should be engineered.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holmes/workflow-and-usability-are-not-afterthoughts-they-impact-the-core-of/) [Ryan Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holmes/) > [The web is the ultimate customer-empowering environment. He or she who clicks the mouse gets to decide everything. It is so easy to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/the-web-is-the-ultimate-customer-empowering-environment-he-or-she-who/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [“the art and science of usability design to reveal how products drive specific user actions. Companies leverage two basic pulleys of human behavior to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nir-eyal/the-art-and-science-of-usability-design-to-reveal-how-products-drive/) [Nir Eyal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nir-eyal/) > [“Happy talk must die”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-krug/happy-talk-must-die/) [Steve Krug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-krug/) > [Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles: when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/consistency-is-one-of-the-most-powerful-usability-principles-when/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [“When fixing problems, always do the least you can.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-krug/when-fixing-problems-always-do-the-least-you-can/) [Steve Krug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-krug/) > [A general principle for all user interface design is to go through all of your design elements and remove them one at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/a-general-principle-for-all-user-interface-design-is-to-go-through/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [Beauty and brains, pleasure and usability - they should go hand in hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/beauty-and-brains-pleasure-and-usability-they-should-go-hand-in-hand/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“It doesn’t matter how many times I have to click, as long as each click is a mindless, unambiguous choice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-krug/it-doesn-t-matter-how-many-times-i-have-to-click-as-long-as-each/) [Steve Krug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-krug/) > [Even the best designers produce successful products only if their designs solve the right problems. A wonderful interface to the wrong features will fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/even-the-best-designers-produce-successful-products-only-if-their/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) > [Usability rules the web. Simply stated, if the customer can't find a product, then he or she will not buy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jakob-nielsen/usability-rules-the-web-simply-stated-if-the-customer-can-t-find-a/) [Jakob Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jakob-nielsen/) ## More by Peter Morville > [“The journey transforms the destination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/the-journey-transforms-the-destination/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) > [Note that the #1 Top Reviewer at Amazon (4550 book reviews) is Harriet Klausner, formerly an acquisitions librarian in Pennsylvania. This just goes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/note-that-the-1-top-reviewer-at-amazon-4550-book-reviews-is-harriet/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) > [We can glimpse what lies ahead in the eyes of a child through the lens of a Treo. A brilliant intertwingling of atoms, bits,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/we-can-glimpse-what-lies-ahead-in-the-eyes-of-a-child-through-the/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) > [What we find changes who we become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/what-we-find-changes-who-we-become/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) > [The design of good houses requires an understanding of both the construction materials and the behavior of real humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/the-design-of-good-houses-requires-an-understanding-of-both-the/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) > [“once in a while, we do need a mapmaker who takes the time to survey the system, uncover hidden paths and powerful levers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morville/once-in-a-while-we-do-need-a-mapmaker-who-takes-the-time-to-survey/) [Peter Morville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) [Explore all 7 Peter Morville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morville/) ## More Alphabet quotes > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [Flowers are the alphabet of angels, whereby they write on the hills and fields mysterious truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/flowers-are-the-alphabet-of-angels-whereby-they-write-on-the-hills/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, — whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/i-have-thought-that-wild-flowers-might-be-the-alphabet-of-angels/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [My alphabet starts with this letter called yuzz. It s the letter I use to spell yuzz a ma tuzz. You ll be sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/my-alphabet-starts-with-this-letter-called-yuzz-it-s-the-letter-i-use/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [I cannot find it in me to fear a man who took ten years a learning of his alphabet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-cannot-find-it-in-me-to-fear-a-man-who-took-ten-years-a-learning-of/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [Why' is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it. The alphabet does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/why-is-the-only-question-that-bothers-people-enough-to-have-an-entire/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [I used to have a little saying I used when people said, 'What are your priorities?' I'd give them a bit of government alphabet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hayden/i-used-to-have-a-little-saying-i-used-when-people-said-what-are-your/) [Michael Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hayden/) > [All I want is that Americans still be able to read the alphabet in a hundred years. I am not very ambitious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/all-i-want-is-that-americans-still-be-able-to-read-the-alphabet-in-a/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The visual power of the phonetic alphabet is the translate other languages into itself is part of its power to invade right hemisphere (oral)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/the-visual-power-of-the-phonetic-alphabet-is-the-translate-other/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [Architecture is the alphabet of giants; it is the largest set of symbols ever made to meet the eyes of men. A tower stands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/architecture-is-the-alphabet-of-giants-it-is-the-largest-set-of/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I've always thought of the T-shirt as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet, ... The White T.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-armani/i-ve-always-thought-of-the-t-shirt-as-the-alpha-and-omega-of-the/) [Giorgio Armani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-armani/) > [Alphabetical order had to be invented to help people organize the first dictionaries. On the other hand, we may have reached a point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gleick/alphabetical-order-had-to-be-invented-to-help-people-organize-the/) [James Gleick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gleick/) > [One who has not only the four Ss, which are required in every good lover, but even the whole alphabet. as for example¦ Agreeable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/one-who-has-not-only-the-four-ss-which-are-required-in-every-good/) [Miguel De Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [New York doesn't exactly have neighborhoods, the way most cities do. What it has is closer to distinct and separate villages, some of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-e-westlake/new-york-doesn-t-exactly-have-neighborhoods-the-way-most-cities-do/) [Donald E. Westlake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-e-westlake/) [Browse all 336 Alphabet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alphabet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the Web. 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