By Catriona Campbell, CEO

The European Usability Forum was set up by a project team sponsored by the European Commission to consolidate various views on the field of Usability or Human Computer Interaction in Europe, and it served as a forum to discuss respective experiences and expectations for the industry for collaboration across Europe. We also concluded that there were a number of projects for which we would seek European funding, to enable Europe to become a leading force in new and evolving usability initiatives and research.

Representatives nominated to attend the forum included the UK, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France and Italy.

The principle common understanding of the new forum is, that it shall be a strategic entity which provides a clear and strong voice for the HCI, usability and user centred design community. I was nominated by my peers to lead the Communications and Public Awareness Sub Group, one of six groups to support the initiatives across Europe. I am delighted to be nominated by such a prestigious collection of Usability experts for this very important role, and I look forward to working with my peers to encourage best usability and accessibility practice across Europe in the years to come. Having met with my peers in the European Usability Forum, I believe that by sharing methodologies and new initiatives, we really can raise the level of European Usability expertise beyond the of the US.

I have also been nominated to serve on the following Sub Groups; Innovation (specifically new Usability Tools research), Policy, Lobbying and Regulation, and Accreditation, Knowledge, Curriculum, Accessibility.

The European Usability Forum is set to meet regularly, with meetings for 2003 organised, and more news to follow in these newsletters.

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