World Usability Day 2010

What It Is

World Usability Day is an annual event highlighting the importance of good design and ease–of–use in everyday products and services, including government websites. Last year's celebration included over 150 activities in 43 countries.

Why It's Important

The theme for World Usability Day 2010 is "Communication." World Usability Day was founded in 2005 as an initiative of the Usability Professionals' Association to ensure that services and products important to human life are easier to access and simpler to use. Each year, on the second Thursday of November, events are organized in dozens of countries around the world to raise awareness for the general public, and train professionals in the tools and issues central to good usability research, development, and practice.

Resources

• Watch our archived webinar, Improve Efficiency and Usability with Design Templates.  HFI VP of User Experience Strategy Jeff Horvath, Carolyn Lawson, and Dan Wilson discussed how the State of California transformed its websites using web templates and usability testing.
• Check out WorldUsabilityDay.org for hundreds of other usability activities
• Explore the resources on Usability.gov
• Learn about First Fridays, the discount usability testing in government

Previous World Usability Day Events and Resources

• World Usability Day 2009: "The Importance of Usability + Plain Language"
• World Usability Day 2008: "Create Great Usability Requirements"
• World Usability Day 2007: "Government Careers in Usability"