World Usability Day
{{Short description|Annual event on second Thursday of November}}
{{notability|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name = World Usability Day
|type = international
|longtype =
|image = Auditorio Universidad de la Salle (World Usability Day).jpg
|caption = World Usability Day presentation at La Salle University, Columbia
|official_name =
|nickname = Make Things Easier Day
|observedby =
|duration = 1 day
|frequency = annual
|scheduling =
|week_ordinal = second
|weekday = Thursday
|month = November
|celebrations =
|relatedto =
}}
World Usability Day (WUD) or Make Things Easier Day,
{{cite web |author=Tim Bedore |author-link=Tim Bedore |publisher=American Public Media's Marketplace (radio program) |date=2006-11-14 |url=http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/11/14/PM200611148.html |title=How about Make Things Easier Day? |access-date=2006-12-27 |quote=Today is World Usability Day, a day to promote intuitive engineering and user-friendly design. Commentator and humorist Tim Bedore is all for it, if only we could come up with a better name . . .}} Established in 2005 by the Usability Professionals Association (now the User Experience Professionals Association), occurs annually to promote the values of usability, usability engineering, user-centered design, universal usability, and every user's responsibility to ask for things that work better. The day adopts a different theme each year.
World Usability Day started as an idea springing from a discussion in the fall of 2004 between two UPA board members, Elizabeth Rosenzweig and Nigel Bevan. They worked together with the UPA board to start World Usability Day and over the years, Elizabeth Rosenzweig kept it running.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-10 |title=World Usability Day |url=https://wcdevents.home.blog/november/worldusabilityday/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=World Celebration Days |language=en}}
"World Usability Day was established to focus people on the problems and subsequent solutions related to usability. We want to raise people’s awareness of how much these problems impact all of us. If we can get thousands of people on the planet to focus on one thing for one day, we can accomplish something big. It only takes one day to change someone’s point of view, or to light a fire that can burn for years." - Elizabeth Rosenzweig{{Cite web |date=2006-08-07 |title=World Usability Day: A Challenge for Everyone - JUX |url=https://uxpajournal.org/world-usability-day-a-challenge-for-everyone/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=JUX - The Journal of User Experience |language=en}}Across more than 140 countries, WUD has engaged over 250,000 individuals and had an impact on their local communities. WUD has opened up the field of UX and usability in places where it did not exist before the event, such as Eastern Europe (including Poland, Ukraine, Russia, and Turkey).{{Cite web |title=Usability: The essential ingredient for sustainable world development {{!}} ACM Interactions |url=https://interactions.acm.org/blog/view/usability-the-essential-ingredient-for-sustainable-world-development |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=interactions.acm.org}}
World Usability Day is currently run by the World Usability Initiative{{Cite book |last1=Rosenzweig |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Lazem |first2=Shaima |last3=Dray |first3=Susan |chapter=The World Usability Initiative: Toward Inclusive and Usable Computing Technologies Worldwide |date=2023-08-16 |title=Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1145/3588001.3609377 |series=COMPASS '23 |location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=142–144 |doi=10.1145/3588001.3609377 |isbn=979-8-4007-0149-8}}. The WUD organizers have collaborated with renowned professional associations like SIGCHI, HCII, PLAIN, and IFIP. Together, they established the World Usability Initiative (WUI), a focused global organization. Operating as a singular, dedicated entity, WUI works closely with the United Nations, particularly concerning the human factors integral to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Each year, World Usability Day is built around a theme relevant to the state of design and technology.{{Cite web |title=Themes – World Usability Day |url=https://www.worldusabilityday.org/about-us/themes/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |language=en-US}} Previous themes include:
- 2024: Designing for a Better World
- 2023: Collaboration and Cooperation
- 2022: Our Health{{Cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=World Usability Day 2022: What is Usability and Why Does it Matter? Theme, History and Significance |url=https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/world-usability-day-2022-what-is-usability-and-why-does-it-matter-theme-history-and-significance-6352195.html |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=News18 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-11-10 |title=World Usability Day 2022: History, theme, significance and all you need to know |url=http://www.news9live.com/knowledge/world-usability-day-2022-history-theme-significance-and-all-you-need-to-know-207061 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=News9live |language=en-US}}
- 2021: Design of Our Online World
- 2020: Human Centered AI
- 2019: Design for the Future We Want
- 2018: Design for Good or Evil
- 2017: Inclusion
- 2016: Sustainable/Green UX
- 2015: Innovation
- 2014: Engagement
- 2013: Healthcare: Collaborating for Better Systems
- 2012: Finance
- 2011: Education: Designing for Social Change
- 2010: Communication
- 2009: Sustainability
- 2008: Transportation
- 2007: Healthcare
- 2006: Making Life Easy
- 2005: First Year
World Usability Day has support from notable technology leaders including:
- Bill Gates{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpxYYz1QHqQ |title=Bill Gates at World Usability Day 2007 |language=en |access-date=2024-05-08 |via=www.youtube.com}}
- Jakob Nielsen{{Cite web |title=UX Roundup: IDEO Cut in Half {{!}} Dall-E Characters {{!}} AI New UI Paradigm World Usability Day {{!}} OpenAI Keynote |url=https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ux-roundup-ideo-cut-half-dall-e-characters-ai-new-ui-paradigm-jakob-ndyke |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.linkedin.com |language=en}}
- John Hockenberry{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg7Itb76kfI |title=World Usability Day with John Hockenberry |language=en |access-date=2024-05-08 |via=www.youtube.com}}
World Usability Day events have been run in over 140 countries, including:
- Canada
- Estonia{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://wud.ee/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=World Usability Day |language=en}}
- Germany
- Pakistan
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
- United States{{Cite web |title=Events – World Usability Day |url=https://www.worldusabilityday.org/events/?date_filter=2023 |access-date=2024-05-08 |language=en-US}}
World Usability Day events have been sponsored by numerous corporations and organizations, including:
- American Foundation for the Blind{{Cite web |title=Celebrate World Usability Day by Embracing Accessibility |url=https://www.afb.org/blog/entry/celebrate-world-usability-day-embracing-accessibility |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=The American Foundation for the Blind |language=en-US}}
- University of Washington{{Cite web |title=Human Centered Design & Engineering |url=https://www.hcde.washington.edu/node/2566 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Human Centered Design & Engineering |language=en}}
- BBVA{{Cite web |last=BBVA |date=2019-11-14 |title=World Usability Day: how design enhances our lives {{!}} BBVA |url=https://www.bbva.com/en/world-usability-day-how-design-enhances-our-lives/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=NEWS BBVA |language=en}}
- Bentley University{{Cite web |title=World Usability Day 2018: Design for Good or Evil {{!}} Bentley University |url=https://www.bentley.edu/centers/user-experience-center/world-usability-day-2018-design-good-or-evil |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.bentley.edu |language=en}}
- Optimal Workshop{{Cite web |last=optimalworkshopadmin |date=2018-11-08 |title=World Usability Day 2018: 6 examples of bad design and how to improve them |url=https://blog.optimalworkshop.com/world-usability-day-2018-6-examples-of-bad-design-and-how-to-improve-them/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Optimal Workshop |language=en-US}}
- Understood{{Cite web |last=Team |first=Understood |title=World Usability Day |url=https://www.understood.org/blog/world-usability-day |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.understood.org |language=en}}
- General Assembly{{Cite web |title=World Usability Day: Designing for the Future We Want |url=https://generalassemb.ly/education/world-usability-day-designing-for-the-future-we-want/online |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=generalassemb.ly}}
- HFI{{Cite web |title=Human Factors International |url=https://www.humanfactors.com/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=HFI}}
- Priority Pixels{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Chris |date=2023-11-09 |title=What is World Usability Day and Why Does it Matter? |url=https://prioritypixels.co.uk/blog/what-is-world-usability-day-and-why-does-it-matter/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Priority Pixels |language=en-GB}}
- HeX Productions{{Cite web |last=Swan |first=Cheryl |date=2023-11-08 |title=Why World Usability Day Matters |url=https://www.horlix.com/world-usability-day/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=HeX Productions |language=en}}
- ProCare Software{{Cite web |last=Woodbury |first=Leah |date=2023-11-09 |title=Happy World Usability Day! {{!}} Procare |url=https://www.procaresoftware.com/blog/happy-world-usability-day/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=Procare Solutions |language=en-US}}
- WP Engine{{Cite web |last=Cullen |first=Riley |date=2023-11-09 |title=Celebrating Usability Day at WP Engine |url=https://wpengine.com/blog/celebrating-usability-day-at-wp-engine/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=WP Engine |language=en-US}}
- GlobalLogic{{Cite web |date=2023-01-25 |title=World Usability Day: What is Usability and Why Does it Matter? |url=https://www.globallogic.com/insights/blogs/world-usability-day-what-is-usability-and-why-does-it-matter/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=GlobalLogic |language=en-us}}
- FabricGroup{{Cite web |title=Demystifying AI Usability on World Usability Day |url=http://www.fabricgroup.com.au/blog/solving-ai-usability-world-usability-day-special |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=www.fabricgroup.com.au}}
- Key Lime Interactive{{Cite web |last=Interactive |first=Key Lime |title=User-Centered Design: Celebrating World Usability Day 2022 |url=https://info.keylimeinteractive.com/world-usability-day-2022 |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=info.keylimeinteractive.com |language=en-us}}
- TPGi{{Cite web |last=TPGi |date=2020-11-10 |title=Celebrating World Usability Day |url=https://www.tpgi.com/celebrating-world-usability-day/ |access-date=2024-05-08 |website=TPGi |language=en-US}}