2.0nd chance

I didn’t blog earlier about the the Usability Camp held in Toronto on Nov. 14, 2006, World Usability Day. The organizers, Mira Jelic, Jyotika Malhotra, Richard McCann and Ilona Posner, were astute enough to invite as one of the speakers Michelle Ivankovic, Senior Designer at Umbra. Umbra is Toronto’s own “worldwide leader in casual, contemporary, affordable design for the home” and I’ve been a fan of their products for at least 15 years, starting with an indoor garbage bin that I still use (since joined by a second one for recyclables). Michelle spoke about how they improve the usability of everyday items such as their holder for paper towels. I found this highly relevant to the event, as a reminder of how using a computer is an everyday thing just like using a paper towel holder, so that usability is just as important.

I find it shameful that the computing industry has done such a poor job of usability. Maybe Web 2.0 is our 2.0nd chance.