Functionality


 * Refers to the tasks that a program performs: a spreadsheet can make calculations of certain types, and a word processor can move text around a page, display fonts, and check spelling.
 * Functionality is foremost conceived as what a person can do with a program.


 * Functionality** consists of the actions that are performed by people and computers working in concert, and programs are the means for creating the potential for those actions. It helps the user to re-examine earlier assumptions about the content and what can be done with it, and to change the design until problems are solved.

It is the process of looking at both the close-up view of individual controls that users interact with, and the big picture of how all the controls in the product work together. Designing functionality means asking a lot of questions and testing different answers until you find the ones that work best.

Designing Functionality
 * Helpful Illustrations:**

http://www.mpgwebdesign.com/design_&_functionality.htm http://chrguibert.free.fr/cmmi/text/176411b-734.php
 * Helpful Websites:**

Laurel, Brenda. Computers As Theatre. New York, Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1991. Kristof, Ray. Interactivity By Design: Creating & Communicating With New Media. California: Adobe Press, 1995.
 * References:**

__**In information technology**__, functionality (from Latin //functio// meaning "to perform") is the sum or any aspect of what a product, such as a software application or computing device, can do for a user. A product's functionality is used by marketers to identify product features and enables a user to have a set of capabilities. Functionality may or may not be easy to use. The quality or state of being [|functional] ; //especially// **:** the particular set of [|functions] or capabilities associated with computer software or hardware or an electronic device. Flow charts are excellent ways to show what a product can do for a user or show how an object will function for a user. It is necessary for interactive designs to be easily functional therefore being easier to use, navigate and understand.

Added by Amy Allen