World Usability Design Challenge

This year’s World Usability Day theme asks us to consider how things can be improved to create a better world for all. We have come a long way as a society, yet we still face fundamental human challenges such as war, poverty, climate change, renewable energy, and social justice. Designers can play a critical role in addressing these challenges by creating solutions that seek to improve the human condition and make the world more just.or 2024, The World Usability Design Challenge continues to call on the design community to share evidence of specific impacts of insights from user research and evaluation on detailed design decisions.

A focus on users in design is primarily supported through research into target usage contexts and evaluation of designs in use. For 2024, we seek submissions to the WUI DC that showcase excellent user-focused design that addresses the theme of Designing for a Better World. Submitted Design Challenge entries will present evidence of user research and evaluation that had a clear and valuable impact on interaction, product and/or service design recommendations and decisions. Such evidence should let the general public (including UN decision-makers) ‘get it’ by demonstrating connections between research, evaluation, and worthwhile design outcomes.

Prizes of World Usability Design Challenge

• Gold $1250
• Silver $1000
• Bronze $750
• The Gold, Silver, and Bronze recipients of the WUI DC Awards winners will be cordially invited, with complimentary registration, to present their innovative, impactful design work in a special session during the 2024 HCI International Conference. They can also have a written account included in the proceedings as a paper or late-breaking results (with a later deadline for their manuscript).

Eligibility for World Usability Design Challenge

• Everyone is welcome to take on the design challenge.
• For 2024, entries should be tightly argued and well-evidenced reports that provide details of user research and evaluations with compelling evidence of how this demonstrably improved both product and process value.
• Entries should address the WUD 2024 theme, Designing for a Better World. Winning entries will demonstrate how a combination of contextual user research and evaluation of quality in use have significantly contributed to the (improved) success of a digital product or service.

Judging Criteria

The judging criteria will be applied to the information provided in each entry. They are:

• Quality of contextual/user research
• Quality of UX/outcomes evaluation
• Explicitness of connections between user-focused work and design decisions
• Quality of evidence for connections between user-focused work, design decisions, and outcomes