OK, it's an awkward term. The goal is to replace the concept of usability. Or, rather, to supersede it. Audience Experience Optimization is a discipline that seeks to make certain that a viewer/participant of a Web site has a satisfying experience. The components of this study include usability (for functionality), messaging, branding, and marketing (for offers, etc.). Each of these components focus on a certain aspect of the total audience experience on the Web site. When these components are consider together, then we can have a truly comprehensive picture of whether the Web site is effective. And it is this approach that offers us a much wider and much more helpful perspective than a simple usability study.