Next Friday, August 1:
Usability Challenge 2008 is only 6 days away if you’re in Anchorage Alaska, and 5 days away if you’re in Wellington, New Zealand. If you’re one of the almost 5,000 inhabitants of the island nation of Kiribati, then you will be the very first Earthlings to experience Usability Challenge Day 2008, being the easternmost humans on the planet. This is very appropriate given that the I-Kiribati became unofficial Usability Challenge heroes by solving a usability problem of global proportions!
From 1979, Kiribati found itself straddling the International Date Line. This meant that when it was Monday in one part of Kiribati, it was Sunday in another. Not a particularly usable situation for Government agencies trying to get some work done. So in 1995 they moved a bit of the International Date Line. It now skirts around Kiribati, which has been enjoying synchronised weekends every since.
If the I-Kiribati moved the International Date Line to solve a usability problem, what are *you* going to do to make the world a better, safer and/or more usable place?
On Friday 1 August, your mission is to find a usability issue, design a solution, and share the design with someone who can implement it. Don’t forget to also share what you’ve done with your fellow usability challengers too!