Whitney Quesenbery: Usability starts with a philosophy - a belief in designing to meet user needs and to focus on creating an excellent user experience - but it is the specific process and methodology that produce the real goal of usability. A new usability process starts by looking at who uses a product, understanding their goals and needs, and selecting the right techniques to answer the question, “How well does this product meet the usability requirements of our users?” - Whitney Quesenbery
http://www.wqusability.com/articles/getting-started.html