First UK UPA Awards commend Firefox, Flickr, Google, Apple, John Lewis and BA

For the first annual World Usability Day, the UK Usability Professionals' Association held the UKUPA Awards 2005. On 3rd November, the great and good of the usability community met to 'honour some of the most usable products and websites'.

A panel of 10 usability experts had chosen the shortlist of nominees to be voted upon by UK UPA members. The culminating event of handing over the awards was held last Thursday at the Prudential headquarters in central London – an excellent venue for the mix of networking and formal presentation that the awards demanded.

'We need stuff that takes you along the curve,' said the evening's compère, broadcaster-author Bill Thompson. ...Stuff that's designed to be learnable and doesn't keep 'reminding you how elegant and smart it is' by getting in the way. 'What's great about tonight is that is that we are rewarding the people who get it right: who put their soul into making systems rewarding – and it's nice to reward them.'

The winners were as follows:

* Best Website for finding information (sponsored by Amberlight Partners)
GoogleLocal (GoogleMaps interface)

Best Website for communication between users (sponsored by Prudential)
Flickr

* Best Website for online communication (sponsored by Foolproof)
JohnLewis.com

* Best software application (sponsored by Foviance)
Firefox

* Best consumer product (sponsored by Flow Interaction)
iPod clickwheel interface

* Best specialised / public technology (sponsored by Nomensa)
BA Self-ticketing machine

The intention is to hold the awards again next year.

(For a fuller description of the awards and other parts of the 3rd November celebrations, see story: A World Usability Day Diary)

Increase data Usability, save Billions
Source: ZDNet, 6 September 2010
 
Data usability? less sexy than social emotional interfaces, more money than you can imagine.

Three Things Steve Krug Didn’t Tell You About Usability Testing
Source: George Saines, 2 September 2010
 
Don't make me think. Well, ok, maybe a little bit.

Trace exactly what Users are doing
Source: killerstartups, 30 August 2010
 
A new tool lets you watch all of your website activity, in real-time replays.

Google boosts Usability with Gmail revamp
Source: V3.co.uk, 28 August 2010
 
Long overdue improvements to Gmail may increase its appeal to business users.

Tech4Africa conference runs in Johannesburg
Source: bizcommunity, 26 August 2010
 
A new conference in Africa recognises usability as a central concept to IT uptake.

Top 3 Usability Tips for Building Better Blogs
Source: CMS Wire, 24 August 2010
 
If you're compelled to blog, may as well get it right.

Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain
Source: New York Times, 23 August 2010
 
Fascinating account of how heavy use of digital devices changes how we think and behave, and how a retreat into nature might reverse those effects.

Tips for International In-home User Research
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 20 August 2010
 
In-home user research can provide richer, more illuminating information than lab-based studies. Here are some tips for a successful in-home international research.

New Study- Gender differences in Web Usability
Source: Demystifying Usability blog, 18 August 2010
 
Comscore has released a new study (June 30 2010) entitled Women on the Web: How Women are Shaping the Internet.

UX Myths: Usability testing is Expensive
Source: UX Myths, 16 August 2010
 
Many organizations still believe usability testing is a luxury that requires an expensively equipped lab and takes weeks to conduct.