Is Your Phone Actually Working For You?

Every year on the second Thursday of November, the world observes World Usability Day. This year, it falls on November 14, 2025. But this isn't some technical celebration reserved for Silicon Valley engineers. It's a day that matters to anyone who has ever wanted to throw their phone across the room because an app refused to cooperate.

- BY HAFSA RIZVI

World Usability Day exists because technology has a problem. We live surrounded by devices and apps that are supposed to make life easier, yet many of them do exactly the opposite. They confuse us, frustrate us, and waste our time. This day asks a simple question: Shouldn't technology work for people, instead of people struggling to work with technology?

When Technology Gets It Right

Usability is how easy and pleasant something is to use. You know good usability when you experience it, even if you've never heard the term. Think about how you send money through a mobile banking app. The best ones let you complete a transfer in seconds. You select a contact, enter an amount, confirm with your fingerprint, and done. No confusion, no manual, no calling the bank helpline.

That simplicity doesn’t happen by accident. Behind those few taps are teams of designers who tested the app with actual people, watched where they got confused, and refined every screen until it felt natural.

Google Maps is another example that most people use daily. You type a destination, and it shows you how to get there with traffic updates, alternative routes, and estimated arrival times. Before apps like this existed, people spent hours with paper maps trying to figure out directions. Now we take this for granted, but it represents thousands of hours of work making complex technology feel simple.

When Technology Gets It Wrong

Bad usability is everywhere too. Consider government websites where finding a simple form requires clicking through a maze of pages. Or apps that force you to create an account before letting you see what they actually offer. Shopping websites that make you enter your address in rigid formats that don’t match how Sri Lankan addresses actually work.