- Making it Easy
- From Schoolchildren to Government Leaders
- Technology that Works for Us, Not Against Us
- Grassroots Efforts to Improve Technology
- Events
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Technology that Works for Us, Not Against Us
World Usability Day is a challenging and dynamic process for Rosenzweig and the UPA because it involves keeping abreast of members worldwide who are planning and coordinating events. The movers and shakers behind it all are the UPA's Board of Directors, who came up with the ideas and project plans, and the World Usability Day Core Committee, which includes director Rosenzweig; co-director Richard Bellevar; and committee members Paul Sherman, Keith Instone, and Nigel Bevan. Sue Leitner, their sole paid consultant, is handling public relations. According to Rosenzweig:
"The main point is that this is for the average person, not just the usability professional. Everyone can benefit from more usable technology. The reason we are starting World Usability Day is to raise the consciousness of the general public to the current problems with technology that we use in our everyday lives. The culture has been created where we all want the newest coolest thing, the thing with the most features and newest look. But is that really what we want? Don't we want technology that helps us live a better life? We really want technology that works for us, not against us.
It is incredible to me that we have so much technology creating more work and more things for us to do. Often we have to work hard to figure out how our stuff really works or we have to adapt our way of being to fit the technology. That is wrong. Technology is here to serve us and it can be paying more attention to the people and how we are using that technology."