Notes from the Field
The Usability Professionals' Association and its many partner organizations have encountered many interesting places where usability can be applied:
- In Hyderabad, India they put out a call for papers about "usability in unexpected places," and one inquirer said, "I have worked on brick carrier concept for rural laborers." More at the event Web site.
- Dr. Susan Dray, keynote speaker at the Minneapolis dinner event, encountered illiterate Bushmen using PDAs to help wildlife managers. She also saw tuberculosis patients in South Africa receive text messages on their cell phones reminding them to take their medications, and to keep taking them even after symptoms disappeared.
- "Do you think if you're hunkered down and someone's shooting at you in your car, you're going to be able to sit there and look for Control or Alt or Function?" said Sgt. Don DeMers, president of the San Jose Police Officers' Association. "No, you're going to look for the red button." The union was a vocal opponent of a Windows-based touch-screen computer installed in every patrol car in 2004. Officers said the system was so complex and difficult to use that it jeopardized their ability to do their jobs. (Submitted by Aaron Marcus in Berkeley, California) See the whole story by Katie Hafner at nytimes.com (registration required).
World Usability Day 2007 is sponsored by:
