Pune Chapter of Usability Professionals Association (UPA) celebrates World Usability Day

Pune Chapter of Usability Professionals Association (UPA) celebrates World Usability Day

Persistent Systems hosts Pune’s first World Usability Day forum

Mumbai, 14 Nov 2006?On the occasion of World Usability Day on 14 Nov, the Pune Chapter of Usability Professionals Association (UPA) today held a gathering of Usability practitioners to discuss the theme of ‘Making Life Easy’.

Hosted by Persistent Systems, the World Usability Day forum included participants like CDAC, Symantec, Genesis Usability, 19AM Design & Pure IT, and was attended by a gathering of about 100 people comprising students, practitioners and corporates. The forum threw light on topics like User-Centered Design Process followed in product based companies, ROI of Usability, The Indian perspective on Usability in the Internet and Telecom Sectors and Challenges in Usability Service Providing through discussions and case studies presented.

The Pune Chapter of UPA was established in Feb, 2006 and already comprises 50+ members. The goals of the UPA are to:

§ Provide an international network through which usability professionals can share information about the techniques and methodologies in the profession

§ Create an inclusive community for those interested in usability, whether it is their primary focus or a related discipline

§ Change new product development processes to include a concern for the people who use them by presenting the business case for usability in product development to colleagues, customers, the public and governmental agencies

§ Increase the body of knowledge about usability and user-centered design through professional education, meetings and conventions and other professional interchanges

Participating organizations in this event were CDAC, Symantec, Persistent Systems, Genesis Usability, 19AM Design and Pure IT.

Commenting on this initiative, Jhumkee Iyengar, Head Usability, PersistentSystems said, “Usability Engineering is emerging as a key offering in the Product Development LifeCycle Services of most companies and Indian enterprises are fast realizing the ROI and other benefits it offers. Through this forum, we not only want to create greater awareness around Usability Engineering, but also want to highlight the essence, relevance and value of this multidisciplinary field in today’s complex world.”

According to a study by Jacob Nielsen in 2002 on the Usability Engineering Industry, India will have to train 400,000 Usability Professionals in the next six years to meet demand in this space.

About UPA

The Usability Professionals’ Association supports usability specialists, people from all aspects of human-centered design, and the broad family of disciplines that create the user experience in promoting the design and development of usable products. UPA members come from many different backgrounds, meeting in the common ground of a shared interest in creating products that meet the needs of the people who work or play with them.

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