World Usability Education Project (WUE)

The World Usability Education Project is a global initiative addressing the critical challenge of equitable education—one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4). The project advances usability knowledge and practice through an innovative, scalable digital learning platform that uses AI to create individualized learning plans for students. By designing, testing, and deploying this web-based solution, the project strengthens global capacity in usability education and fosters hands-on understanding of user-centered design.

Participate in our research project

We invite you to participate in an unmoderated usability test for the World Usability Education Project, an international initiative devoted to advancing usability education through an innovative, scalable digital learning platform. Our goal is to strengthen global capacity in user-centered design by creating and testing a web-based environment that supports hands-on learning and real-world application.

We’ve developed two interactive prototypes—one designed for parents and another for teachers—and we’re seeking UX professionals to help us evaluate them and also run tests with teachers and parents of students. This study will be open until Nov. 20, 2025

If you are running the test with the Teacher persona, send email stating you are a teacher and use the link below.

Teacher Prototype: MAZE Teacher Role

If you are running the test with the Parent persona send email stating you are a parent and, use the link below

Parent Prototype: MAZE Parent Role

A few helpful reminders before you begin:

Please enable screen sharing and voice audio recording when Maze prompts you—they help us gain deeper insights.
Feel free to share your thoughts out loud as you complete the tasks.
Some areas include simulated animations that may take a moment to transition; these were intentionally designed to gather feedback on the concepts rather than technical performance.

We’d love your feedback on the overall concept and user experience. Your input will be invaluable as we refine this global learning tool.

Thank you for lending your expertise to this important initiative.

The first phase of the project was primary research, see the report below.

The second phase will focus on the design and development of a small-scale prototype that demonstrates key interactive learning features. This prototype will serve as a foundation for validating pedagogical and design strategies through structured usability testing with real users. Findings from these evaluations will guide iterative improvements to ensure accessibility, effectiveness, and alignment with diverse learner needs.

Following prototype validation, the project will move toward building and launching a fully functional web-based solution. The platform will provide a cohesive and engaging educational experience, integrating multimedia content, interactive exercises, and case studies to enable learners to apply usability principles in real-world contexts.

To ensure meaningful adoption and broad impact, the project will implement a comprehensive user engagement strategy. This will involve the creation of high-quality learning content, targeted marketing campaigns, and partnerships with academic institutions, industry organizations, and global usability networks. These efforts are designed to sustain participation, encourage knowledge exchange, and promote continuous improvement of the platform.

Through this initiative, the World Usability Education Project aims to create a lasting infrastructure for usability education—empowering current and future generations of designers, researchers, and educators to advance human-centered innovation worldwide.

We conducted initial research during June-August 2025. Report is below:

Statement of Need

Usability is a fundamental human right that ensures people across diverse cultures, languages, and abilities can access and benefit from technology, products, and services. Despite growing awareness and interest in usability, many initiatives struggle with consistent funding and scalable impact, limiting their ability to provide equitable access globally. The World Usability Initiative (WUI) plays a critical role in sustaining and connecting usability advocacy and education worldwide. To secure long-term viability, stable funding is essential to support professional communications, foster diversity in expert design evaluations, maintain a continuous flow of case-based usability research publications, guarantee accessible recordings of educational Speaker Series, and expand educational outreach.

What Problem Are We Solving?

Technology is often harder than it should be. Today’s educational environment succeeds on a foundation of usable educational technology which has many flaws, including lack of good communication between teachers and parents, as well as systems that are hard to navigate and understand.

The World Usability Education project addresses these issues by focusing on a project that empowers teachers, parents and students to be successful by individualizing educational tools with east of use and incorporation of AI. By building global capacity through education, research, and advocacy, the project fosters technology that is truly inclusive and equitable for all.