World Usability Day in Brazil

by Adriana Holtz Betiol
abetiol@netpar.com.br

Adriana Holtz Betiol has a PhD in Ergonomics from Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brasil.  She's professor in the Computer Science & Industrial Design Departments at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR), Brasil and coordinator of the University's Usability Group & Usability Lab. She has worked as a HCI researcher and consultant for over 10 years. During the last five years she has concentrated her efforts on research concerning the usability of mobile devices. She'ss the founder of Interfácil Usabilidade de Sistemas, a Brasilian usability consulting/research company. With Lucia Filgueiras, she's one of the founders of the UPA Brasil chapter where she will be the Vice President. A UPA member, Adriana is also the Portuguese translator of the UPA Monthly.

Curitiba, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte were the three cities in Brazil that had events for World Usability Day (WUD) on November 3, 2005. These events marked the formation of the UPA Brazilian chapter.

The city of Curitiba participated in WUD by bringing Larry Constantine, IDSA, member of the faculty of the University of Madeira, Portugal. With support from PUCPR (Pontifical University Catholic of Paraná) and FIEP (Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná) the Curitiba WUD consisted of six unique events.

Figure FIEP - Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná.

Adriana Holtz Betiol and Idealiza Eventos organized WUD in Curitiba. Adriana is the Vice President - South of UPA Brazil, a chapter currently in formation; PUCPR professor; and founder of Interfácil Usabilidade de Sistemas, a usability consulting and research company.

Press Coverage
World Usability Day (WUD) in the city of Curitiba in Brazil was in the headlines of the three main newspapers of the state of Paraná four different times.

Figure Newspaper Headline 1 - "Curitiba será uma das sedes do Dia Mundial da Usabilidade."

Figure Newspaper Headline 2 - "Percalços para lidar com a tecnologia."

Figure Newspaper Headline 3 - "Muita tecnologia acaba confundindo as pessoas."

Figure Newspaper Headline 4 - "Dia Mundial da Usabilidade."

Event 1
Time: 10:00-12:00
Professor Constantine visited the CITS-International Center for Software Technology. Mr.Guilherme Lorenzi, executive coordinator at CITS, and Silvana Kusman, project manager, received Professor Constantine. They showed Professor Constantine the CITS facilities in the industrial city of Curitiba and discussed the main research projects CITS is involved with and how they can benefit from usability techniques.

Figure Event 1a. Prof. Constantine at CITS main entrance.

Figure Event 1b. Silvana Kusman, Prof. Constantine, Adriana Betiol, Guilherme Lorenzi.

Event 2
Time: 12:30 - 14:30
Professor Constantine gave a lunchtime talk to 12 managers and directors of local companies and the board of directors from FIEP (Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná) and UNINDUS (Industry University) about usability and its importance to their business.

Figure Event 2. Prof. Constantine lunchtime talk at FIEP.

Event 3
Time: 15:30 - 16:00
Professor Constantine visited Bematech, a Brazilian company in the point-of-sale (POS) and kiosk automation markets. He talked to Bematech engineers about usability and how it can be incorporated into the development of products for a better customer experience.

Figure Event 3. Prof. Constantine talks about usability tests to Bematech engineers.

Event 4
At PUCPR University, Industrial Design students from the fifth period designed 10 posters for the WUD exhibition. Each poster was dedicated to a daily-use product including a DVD, video recorder, mobile phone, ATM, microwave oven, digital camera, car panel, PDA, air conditioner, and portable video game.

Students researched the main difficulties that people face when using these products. Then they projected what would be an ideal solution for a user interface for the products that would minimize the interaction problems.

The posters were exhibited through November 10th in the University lounge of CCET (Technological Center) at PUCPR. The exhibition attracted a lot of attention from people passing through the lounge.

Figure Event 4. Prof. Constantine at PUCPR Industrial Design students posters exhibition.

Event 5
Time: 19:30-21:00
Professor Larry Constantine lectured for on "Designing Products for Use" for 150 students and professors. The lecture took place in the PUCPR Auditório Gregor Mendel-CCBS.

Figure Event 5. Prof. Constantine lectures students and professors at PUCPR.

Event 6
Time: 19:30-21:00

On Friday, November 4th, Professor Constantine gave a full-day tutorial, "Model-Driven Design: An Introduction to Usage-Centered Design", for developers and user interface designers at CIETEP.

The tutorial was a huge success. We were initially expecting 50 people to attend. But due to a long waiting list, we changed to a bigger auditorium to accommodate more people. Seventy two people attended, not only from Curitiba, but from many different states from Brazil, such as Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Sergipe.

But more than quantity there was quality, since many important companies sent their web designers, software developers, and IT people to attend this tutorial. There were people from banks, fixed-line telephone companies, mobile devices manufacturers, IT companies and research institutes.

Figure Event 6a. Prof. Constantine's tutorial at CIETEP.

Figure Event 6b. Group discussion during tutorial at CIETEP.