The difference, in a nutshell, is merely a linguistic one. Usability - in the sense of ease of use and user-friendliness - is a relatively new term in Germany. It was primarily introduced in Germany in relation to the development of the world wide web.
Usability has been established for many more years in the United States and is mainly concerned with the process of developing usable products, such as software, gadgets and devices or web content. This process is referred to as Usability Engineering.
The term Ergonomics describes the characteristics of a product as usable in an effective, efficient, and satisfactory sense. The term finds its origins the academic fields of industrial psychology and product design to name a few.
At the end of the day, Usability and Ergonomics attain the same goal: To design products for the user. If you would like to learn more about how we achieve this, then you can reference our Methods section.
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