Abstract

The lack of usability (the easiness with which the user is able to perform her desired task using a system) may hurt people: a very distressful concept this study refers to is Hurtability. People should not be hurt by the products they buy. And certainly, the users are not the ones responsible for this lack of usability. Information and communication technologies have drastically changed society, and the pressure for low-cost strategies, combined with the lack of use of scientific knowledge and an overall disregard for customer´s well-being, has had an adverse impact: non-tested, sub-parsecurity standard and even unlawful products find their way into the market place, and hurt customer. It used to be that businesses would not be held liable for the safety of their products, and try to transfer accountability for the defects to the customer. But recent changes in laws in countries such as Brazil, South Africa and Kenya try to correct this: In South Africa, producer, importer, distributor or retailer (collectively referred to as “persons in the supply chain”) of any goods is now liable for any harm caused wholly or partly by the goods. It is up to the designers to develop and implement such systems and objects in a way to help the user perform her desired tasks without being hurt by the tool she is using. This paper analyses some common cases, as per illustration, indicating the causes, the usability theories that could explain such causes and suggests some course of actions to correct them. The main goal of this paper is to raise awareness to this very important social-popular-economical issue.

Key words: Usability, liability, accountability, business processes, product design, product evaluation.