Usability: Whose problem is it anyway? (NMK)

2007 sees NMK extending the popularity of its evening events - such as Beers & Innovation - to explore some of the more philosophical and tricky problems that face the new media industry. So please come chew the cud and enjoy a beer or two whilst discussing what is sure to be a lively topic... Usability: whose problem is it anyway?

2007 sees NMK extending the popularity of its evening events - such as Beers & Innovation - to explore some of the more philosophical and tricky problems that face the new media industry.

So please come chew the cud and enjoy a beer or two whilst discussing what is sure to be a lively topic... Usability: whose problem is it anyway?

The Starting Point:
In a recent survey by Nomensa, 98 per cent of the 100 websites analysed didn't reach industry standards on programming code and 89 per cent were difficult to navigate. In the present atmosphere of growth and in a world of web 2.0 - where interactivity and contribution are king - who's problem is this: Developers? Designers? Publishers? W3C? The government? Firefox? Microsoft? Bloggers? Software producers? The creators of Flash and AJAX? Agencies? Advertisers? Disabled rights organisations?

The Format:
A jargon free evening where our panel will endeavour to sort through the mess and confusion, and attempt to provide some answers to making the web a friendlier place. After which there will be the opportunity to pitch in, share thoughts and ask the panel some rather probing questions.

The Panel:
• chairing the event is Kathryn Corrick, a new media consultant and freelance editor. Kathryn has worked with companies ranging from Handbag.com to usability specialists, ReadSpeaker, as well as recently acting as editor for NMK. Prior to working as a consultant Kathryn was online manager for the New Statesman where she was responsible for all digital publications and operations as well running their New Media Awards.
• Matt Somerville. Matthew is a former civil servant, who realised that actually getting to design stuff was more fun and rewarding. He has helped to create various popular democracy and civic websites, like TheyWorkForYou and PledgeBank, wrote accessible versions of the Odeon and National Rail websites, and doesn't blog at Dracos
• Tracy Godding, head of user experience, Interesource
• Stefan Haselwimmer, managing director, UsabilityExchange

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