November 12, 2009
Get Involved!
World Usability Day (WUD) was founded to ensure the services and products important to life are easier to access and simpler to use. Our focus this year is Designing for a Sustainable World.
The fifth Anniversary of World Usability Day is off to an exciting start. The Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) is coordinating more than 36 hours of activities in over 40 countries around the world on November 12, 2009. Your involvement is integral to the success of this global initiative.
How your efforts with World Usability Day made an impact in 2008:
- 200 events, 180 cities, 43 countries
- 40,000 people at events worldwide
- Thousands of online participants
- Extensive worldwide media coverage
As part of our focus on Designing for a Sustainable World in 2009 we will be approaching design from Cradle to Cradle. Coming from a user-centric perspective and looking beyond form and function, we are exploring the impact design has on our World. The ‘Cradle to Cradle’ approach is to start the design with the premise of using materials that can fully enter a new life cycle by either going back to nature or going back into the design process as a new product. This holistic approach to sustainable design shows how usability can apply to all of what we do and build.
Designing for a Sustainable World focuses on how our products and services impact our world. We look at all products and services, whether they are buildings, roads, consumer products, business, services or healthcare systems; throughout their life cycle. The impact focuses on - our environment, energy, water, soil, and more. Have the materials and processes that have been used been recycled and are they re-usable? Are they user and environmentally friendly? These are questions we all must consider as we design, purchase, use and dispose of products each and every day.
How can you get involved?
There are many ways for you to GET involved and be part of our WUD Global
Team:
· Organize an event for your local UPA Chapter, company, community
· Sponsor WUD 2009
· Share your experiences - take photos and videos in your community of the
innovative and challenging aspects of Designing for a Sustainable World.