Mikko Rajanen | University of Oulu (original) (raw)
Papers by Mikko Rajanen
IGI Global eBooks, 2022
Usability is an important quality attribute for Information Technology (IT) applications. However... more Usability is an important quality attribute for Information Technology (IT) applications. However, integrating usability design and evaluation as an integral part of the development processes in Information Technology development organizations is still a challenge. This chapter gives an overview on the usability cost-benefit analysis models and provides some example cases of the importance of usability. These models and cases can be used by usability professionals to motivate the organizational management to provide resources for usability work and to integrate usability work as part of the development process. The target audience for this chapter are professionals and researchers working in the field of IT, managers in IT development organizations, as well as managers in organizations acquiring and using IT.
EDULEARN proceedings, Jul 1, 2022
Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly, Dec 30, 2022
Lecture notes in business information processing, 2015
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
25th International Academic Mindtrek conference, Nov 16, 2022
Engaging citizens with climate change is an urgent and complex issue. Gamified initiatives such a... more Engaging citizens with climate change is an urgent and complex issue. Gamified initiatives such as game-based learning are used to promote awareness, emotional connection, and action, but we would benefit from more examples of how players truly play serious games and learn through them, especially regarding climate change, which presents unique characteristics as a learning topic. Thus, we developed a digital game about climate change and pandemics and thematically analyzed 12 players' experiences with it, including their relationship with the designed path, their possible deviations, and their engagement with the topic. Among our findings, we observe that progressing does not always involve interacting exactly as designed, and that game features that would be problematic otherwise can be accepted in the context of education. We also found that players may resist engaging in morally controversial in-game actions, give up in advance, or progress without understanding their actions' meaning. They also take actions diverging from a purely learning-oriented purpose, such as talking to and trying to interact with characters. Furthermore, game-based climate change engagement is complex and transcends learning new information. The results imply that game-based learning experiences cannot be completely guided, but designers are encouraged to clarify instructions to avoid moments of confused progress. In addition, players can frame educational games as different from entertainment ones in, e.g., their acceptable text amount, but not necessarily in terms of playful affordances. Accessibility and transparency should be addressed too. Importantly, the pedagogical and engaging value of This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.
Abstract The 4th European FabLearn conference FabLearn Europe 2019: Conference on Creativity and ... more Abstract The 4th European FabLearn conference FabLearn Europe 2019: Conference on Creativity and Making in Education in Oulu, Finland, was hosted by University of Oulu, one of the northernmost multidisciplinary universities in the world, where science is done “with an arctic attitude.” It was organized by INTERACT Research Unit from Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, in collaboration with University of Oulu Fab Lab
Computer
The purpose of this article is to highlight the challenges of user-centered and usability process... more The purpose of this article is to highlight the challenges of user-centered and usability processes and methods in a open source software development context as well as to provide some answers for these challenges.
Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly
The aim of this article is to raise awareness and discussion of the ethical aspects of the human-... more The aim of this article is to raise awareness and discussion of the ethical aspects of the human-technology design of socio-technical systems in general, as well as the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) designer responsibility towards users, stakeholders, and society. The dark side of HCI design is rising and the HCI community must respond to it in order to maintain its credibility and legitimacy. This article identifies and discusses four dimensions in human-technology interaction design ethics. To sum up these ethical dimensions of design and the responsibilities of a designer, this position article concludes with a proposed universal golden rule for designing human-technology interactions: Design as easy to use, honest, sustainable, and safe human-technology interactions as you would want others to design for you.
2021 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), 2021
As the COVID-19 storms the globe, there are many efforts to battle it. This paper looks at the de... more As the COVID-19 storms the globe, there are many efforts to battle it. This paper looks at the development of one such an effort in a form of a mobile game. The game is a 2D arcade game called Unus Terra. It is intended to be entertaining but aims to influence people to partake in social distancing through several mechanics. An early version of the game is evaluated by five usability and user experience experts using heuristics and a few other selected methods. In this paper, we present the results from these evaluations along with our findings from using this type of evaluation method. The use of heuristics is considered from the perspectives of academics and practitioners.
This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 6th Scandinavian Conference on Information Sys... more This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 6th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems, SCIS 2015, held in Oulu, Finland, in August 2015. The theme for this book as well as for the conference is Design for, with, and by Users. This theme has characterized information systems research already for decades, and it is still a vibrant topic, especially so within the Scandinavian tradition. The 16 full papers accepted for SCIS 2015 were selected from 44 submissions. In addition, two keynote extended abstracts and one keynote paper are included.
Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 2014
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
"De gustibus non est disputandum", or "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" is an ancie... more "De gustibus non est disputandum", or "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" is an ancient Roman maxim. It posits that everyone's individual preferences are subjective opinions that cannot be right or wrong, and therefore such matters of taste should not be argued about as there is no universal truth to be found. Usability is an important quality characteristic of software, systems, and services, and it is vital in facilitating the rich interaction between users and technology, the social systems and technical systems in the socio-technical context. Although the concept of usability has been evolving over time to match the constantly developing socio-technical landscape, many developers, managers and users still view usability as a subjective matter of taste, therefore undermining its importance. This position paper highlights the importance of separating subjective characteristics related to user satisfaction in usability and user interface design, such as look and feel, from universal characteristics of good design. By drawing parallels between the concept of usability and the Vitruvian architectural design principle of venustas or beauty, this paper argues that usability and user interface design can be more objectively characterized through concepts of universal beauty such as symmetry and harmony, while the more subjective matters of taste could be better encompassed by the user experience and service design. Furthermore, this paper discusses the relationships between user interface design, usability, user experience, and service design.
Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, 2020
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring go... more Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suitability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development. In addition, the paper proposes a set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer-oriented tool to be used during the game development process as well as reports on a small-scale survey study on game usability, heuristic evaluation and usability of usability heuristics in game development.
Worker and workplace empowerment have been enduring topics in psychological research. Recently, d... more Worker and workplace empowerment have been enduring topics in psychological research. Recently, due to the advancements in technology and communication, new forms and types of work and organizing have emerged and challenged the traditional understandings of power and empowerment. Open source software (OSS) communities are one example of such new types of organization and collaboration. OSS communities have been celebrated as democratic, participatory and egalitarian settings where people voluntarily, freely and collaboratively develop software to serve their needs as well as the needs of others. In this paper we show that OSS communities indeed nurture empowerment in several senses. However, we also show that OSS communities pose several challenges to empowerment. As an example, we analyze numerous usability interventions in OSS development, in which usability practitioners have offered their expertise to OSS projects. We show that the usability practitioners have been empowered in ...
Game development market has become very competitive, so a game with bad usability can expect bad ... more Game development market has become very competitive, so a game with bad usability can expect bad reviews and fewer sales even though the game design might be otherwise unique and captivating. This study investigates the views and practices of the North American game companies regarding game usability. A survey study was conducted in North American game companies to capture the meaning of game usability among practitioners, and the extent to which the game companies utilize usability methods, and the methods they use. The respondents, who had different roles in game development, regarded usability as being very important in games and defined game usability as the extent to which a game allows the users to complete their tasks with intuition and minimal frustration. The results were compared with results from Northern European game companies. North American game companies used multitude of usability methods, mainly playtesting, observation of live gameplay, usability testing and focus...
This paper proposes model for introducing personalized game-design elements in a gamification sys... more This paper proposes model for introducing personalized game-design elements in a gamification system. The model is based on user-centred design, human values theory, and gamification design framework. The proposed model promotes the idea of a baseline game component that is meant to acquire online, real-time data about the cognitive and emotional state of the individual, and based on the collected data to adjust the gamified system to the state of the user. This framework, which we name Play Data Profiling (PDP), describes a model of collecting and processing data before, during and after the actual use of the gamified application in order to optimize the subsequent user experience and outcome. Implications and future work are discussed.
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring go... more Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suitability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development as well as proposes of set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer-oriented tool to be...
This paper restates the importance of the concept of usability in the socio-technical systems dev... more This paper restates the importance of the concept of usability in the socio-technical systems development. Usability covers the breadth and depth of the rich interaction of users and technology in the socio-technical context. By drawing parallels between the Vitruvian design principle of suitability and usefulness, and the paradigms of usability conceptualization, this paper argues that usability can act as speculum mundi, a lens through which the impacts of interaction at all levels of the organization and society can be identified.
Application of psychophysiological measurement tools in user experience studies is continuously g... more Application of psychophysiological measurement tools in user experience studies is continuously growing. The development, on one hand, originates from the advantages the tool's capabilities bring to the user experience world. On the other hand, the continuous development of systems and devices and the corresponding need for more interactive systems motivate the user experience domain to navigate possible options of improvement. The thesis reviews the use of electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) measurements in user experience research. Both types of measurements come to the UX domain with their unique advantages. Facial EMG is the most suitable tool to monitor the valence of emotion as well as aspects such as stress and focus. The use of EMG is dependent on the context of use and it is important to take those aspects into consideration when taking it into use. In addition EMG can be used as part a user experience design component. Its application could be implemented as interaction or biofeedback mechanisms. From the emotion evaluation point of view, EEG is mostly used with respect to attention and withdrawal towards a system. Various aspects of emotion such as engagement, excitement, attention and focus can be evaluated using the tool. EEG can also be used as part of a user experience design component. Applications could be as a brain computer interface or feedback mechanisms for systems that can adjust themselves on the basis of such data. The study is conducted as a narrative literature review. Background study was extensively done on user experience, psychophysiology, emotion studies, the nervous system and corresponding measurement tools. On the basis of continuous knowledge development, previous studies were assessed, classified, summarized and synthesized. Advantages, limitations, use contexts, application areas and future potentials of EEG and EMG were studied extensively. Results of the study have implications on user experience research domain, as well as industries that intend to produce products with rich user experience.
Usability as a concept is well established, encapsulating the rich interaction between different ... more Usability as a concept is well established, encapsulating the rich interaction between different kinds of users, information technology systems, and contexts of use. In the context of sociotechnical systems, technology shapes societies and human interactions, and likewise technology itself is shaped by social, economic, and political forces. Therefore, the sociotechnical landscape is constantly evolving. Usability professionals have developed new usability methods and processes in order to address these changes in the socio-technical landscape. Likewise, the very concept of usability has been evolving to better fit into this ever changing socio-technical landscape. The evolved and adapted concept of usability has been feeding back to its socio-technical environment, thus creating a feedback loop. This position paper reflects this feedback loop and the concept of usability as a means of communication and shared language between stakeholders in the socio-technical systems development ...
IGI Global eBooks, 2022
Usability is an important quality attribute for Information Technology (IT) applications. However... more Usability is an important quality attribute for Information Technology (IT) applications. However, integrating usability design and evaluation as an integral part of the development processes in Information Technology development organizations is still a challenge. This chapter gives an overview on the usability cost-benefit analysis models and provides some example cases of the importance of usability. These models and cases can be used by usability professionals to motivate the organizational management to provide resources for usability work and to integrate usability work as part of the development process. The target audience for this chapter are professionals and researchers working in the field of IT, managers in IT development organizations, as well as managers in organizations acquiring and using IT.
EDULEARN proceedings, Jul 1, 2022
Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly, Dec 30, 2022
Lecture notes in business information processing, 2015
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
25th International Academic Mindtrek conference, Nov 16, 2022
Engaging citizens with climate change is an urgent and complex issue. Gamified initiatives such a... more Engaging citizens with climate change is an urgent and complex issue. Gamified initiatives such as game-based learning are used to promote awareness, emotional connection, and action, but we would benefit from more examples of how players truly play serious games and learn through them, especially regarding climate change, which presents unique characteristics as a learning topic. Thus, we developed a digital game about climate change and pandemics and thematically analyzed 12 players' experiences with it, including their relationship with the designed path, their possible deviations, and their engagement with the topic. Among our findings, we observe that progressing does not always involve interacting exactly as designed, and that game features that would be problematic otherwise can be accepted in the context of education. We also found that players may resist engaging in morally controversial in-game actions, give up in advance, or progress without understanding their actions' meaning. They also take actions diverging from a purely learning-oriented purpose, such as talking to and trying to interact with characters. Furthermore, game-based climate change engagement is complex and transcends learning new information. The results imply that game-based learning experiences cannot be completely guided, but designers are encouraged to clarify instructions to avoid moments of confused progress. In addition, players can frame educational games as different from entertainment ones in, e.g., their acceptable text amount, but not necessarily in terms of playful affordances. Accessibility and transparency should be addressed too. Importantly, the pedagogical and engaging value of This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.
Abstract The 4th European FabLearn conference FabLearn Europe 2019: Conference on Creativity and ... more Abstract The 4th European FabLearn conference FabLearn Europe 2019: Conference on Creativity and Making in Education in Oulu, Finland, was hosted by University of Oulu, one of the northernmost multidisciplinary universities in the world, where science is done “with an arctic attitude.” It was organized by INTERACT Research Unit from Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, in collaboration with University of Oulu Fab Lab
Computer
The purpose of this article is to highlight the challenges of user-centered and usability process... more The purpose of this article is to highlight the challenges of user-centered and usability processes and methods in a open source software development context as well as to provide some answers for these challenges.
Complex Systems Informatics and Modeling Quarterly
The aim of this article is to raise awareness and discussion of the ethical aspects of the human-... more The aim of this article is to raise awareness and discussion of the ethical aspects of the human-technology design of socio-technical systems in general, as well as the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) designer responsibility towards users, stakeholders, and society. The dark side of HCI design is rising and the HCI community must respond to it in order to maintain its credibility and legitimacy. This article identifies and discusses four dimensions in human-technology interaction design ethics. To sum up these ethical dimensions of design and the responsibilities of a designer, this position article concludes with a proposed universal golden rule for designing human-technology interactions: Design as easy to use, honest, sustainable, and safe human-technology interactions as you would want others to design for you.
2021 IEEE Conference on Games (CoG), 2021
As the COVID-19 storms the globe, there are many efforts to battle it. This paper looks at the de... more As the COVID-19 storms the globe, there are many efforts to battle it. This paper looks at the development of one such an effort in a form of a mobile game. The game is a 2D arcade game called Unus Terra. It is intended to be entertaining but aims to influence people to partake in social distancing through several mechanics. An early version of the game is evaluated by five usability and user experience experts using heuristics and a few other selected methods. In this paper, we present the results from these evaluations along with our findings from using this type of evaluation method. The use of heuristics is considered from the perspectives of academics and practitioners.
This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 6th Scandinavian Conference on Information Sys... more This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 6th Scandinavian Conference on Information Systems, SCIS 2015, held in Oulu, Finland, in August 2015. The theme for this book as well as for the conference is Design for, with, and by Users. This theme has characterized information systems research already for decades, and it is still a vibrant topic, especially so within the Scandinavian tradition. The 16 full papers accepted for SCIS 2015 were selected from 44 submissions. In addition, two keynote extended abstracts and one keynote paper are included.
Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, 2014
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
"De gustibus non est disputandum", or "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" is an ancie... more "De gustibus non est disputandum", or "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" is an ancient Roman maxim. It posits that everyone's individual preferences are subjective opinions that cannot be right or wrong, and therefore such matters of taste should not be argued about as there is no universal truth to be found. Usability is an important quality characteristic of software, systems, and services, and it is vital in facilitating the rich interaction between users and technology, the social systems and technical systems in the socio-technical context. Although the concept of usability has been evolving over time to match the constantly developing socio-technical landscape, many developers, managers and users still view usability as a subjective matter of taste, therefore undermining its importance. This position paper highlights the importance of separating subjective characteristics related to user satisfaction in usability and user interface design, such as look and feel, from universal characteristics of good design. By drawing parallels between the concept of usability and the Vitruvian architectural design principle of venustas or beauty, this paper argues that usability and user interface design can be more objectively characterized through concepts of universal beauty such as symmetry and harmony, while the more subjective matters of taste could be better encompassed by the user experience and service design. Furthermore, this paper discusses the relationships between user interface design, usability, user experience, and service design.
Lecture Notes in Information Systems and Organisation, 2020
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring go... more Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suitability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development. In addition, the paper proposes a set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer-oriented tool to be used during the game development process as well as reports on a small-scale survey study on game usability, heuristic evaluation and usability of usability heuristics in game development.
Worker and workplace empowerment have been enduring topics in psychological research. Recently, d... more Worker and workplace empowerment have been enduring topics in psychological research. Recently, due to the advancements in technology and communication, new forms and types of work and organizing have emerged and challenged the traditional understandings of power and empowerment. Open source software (OSS) communities are one example of such new types of organization and collaboration. OSS communities have been celebrated as democratic, participatory and egalitarian settings where people voluntarily, freely and collaboratively develop software to serve their needs as well as the needs of others. In this paper we show that OSS communities indeed nurture empowerment in several senses. However, we also show that OSS communities pose several challenges to empowerment. As an example, we analyze numerous usability interventions in OSS development, in which usability practitioners have offered their expertise to OSS projects. We show that the usability practitioners have been empowered in ...
Game development market has become very competitive, so a game with bad usability can expect bad ... more Game development market has become very competitive, so a game with bad usability can expect bad reviews and fewer sales even though the game design might be otherwise unique and captivating. This study investigates the views and practices of the North American game companies regarding game usability. A survey study was conducted in North American game companies to capture the meaning of game usability among practitioners, and the extent to which the game companies utilize usability methods, and the methods they use. The respondents, who had different roles in game development, regarded usability as being very important in games and defined game usability as the extent to which a game allows the users to complete their tasks with intuition and minimal frustration. The results were compared with results from Northern European game companies. North American game companies used multitude of usability methods, mainly playtesting, observation of live gameplay, usability testing and focus...
This paper proposes model for introducing personalized game-design elements in a gamification sys... more This paper proposes model for introducing personalized game-design elements in a gamification system. The model is based on user-centred design, human values theory, and gamification design framework. The proposed model promotes the idea of a baseline game component that is meant to acquire online, real-time data about the cognitive and emotional state of the individual, and based on the collected data to adjust the gamified system to the state of the user. This framework, which we name Play Data Profiling (PDP), describes a model of collecting and processing data before, during and after the actual use of the gamified application in order to optimize the subsequent user experience and outcome. Implications and future work are discussed.
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring go... more Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research has provided many processes and methods for ensuring good usability during software development. The importance of usability in games has been acknowledged. However, there is a lack of research examining usability activities during actual game development and the suitability of different usability methods for different phases of game development. Game development industry, although growing fast and already including certain large and successful companies, consists of a huge number of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. For these companies, practical, developer-oriented tools for ensuring game usability are needed, as these companies do not have resources for hiring usability specialists for taking care of usability. This paper reviews the concept of game usability and existing research on usability methods for game development as well as proposes of set of usable usability heuristics as a practical, developer-oriented tool to be...
This paper restates the importance of the concept of usability in the socio-technical systems dev... more This paper restates the importance of the concept of usability in the socio-technical systems development. Usability covers the breadth and depth of the rich interaction of users and technology in the socio-technical context. By drawing parallels between the Vitruvian design principle of suitability and usefulness, and the paradigms of usability conceptualization, this paper argues that usability can act as speculum mundi, a lens through which the impacts of interaction at all levels of the organization and society can be identified.
Application of psychophysiological measurement tools in user experience studies is continuously g... more Application of psychophysiological measurement tools in user experience studies is continuously growing. The development, on one hand, originates from the advantages the tool's capabilities bring to the user experience world. On the other hand, the continuous development of systems and devices and the corresponding need for more interactive systems motivate the user experience domain to navigate possible options of improvement. The thesis reviews the use of electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) measurements in user experience research. Both types of measurements come to the UX domain with their unique advantages. Facial EMG is the most suitable tool to monitor the valence of emotion as well as aspects such as stress and focus. The use of EMG is dependent on the context of use and it is important to take those aspects into consideration when taking it into use. In addition EMG can be used as part a user experience design component. Its application could be implemented as interaction or biofeedback mechanisms. From the emotion evaluation point of view, EEG is mostly used with respect to attention and withdrawal towards a system. Various aspects of emotion such as engagement, excitement, attention and focus can be evaluated using the tool. EEG can also be used as part of a user experience design component. Applications could be as a brain computer interface or feedback mechanisms for systems that can adjust themselves on the basis of such data. The study is conducted as a narrative literature review. Background study was extensively done on user experience, psychophysiology, emotion studies, the nervous system and corresponding measurement tools. On the basis of continuous knowledge development, previous studies were assessed, classified, summarized and synthesized. Advantages, limitations, use contexts, application areas and future potentials of EEG and EMG were studied extensively. Results of the study have implications on user experience research domain, as well as industries that intend to produce products with rich user experience.
Usability as a concept is well established, encapsulating the rich interaction between different ... more Usability as a concept is well established, encapsulating the rich interaction between different kinds of users, information technology systems, and contexts of use. In the context of sociotechnical systems, technology shapes societies and human interactions, and likewise technology itself is shaped by social, economic, and political forces. Therefore, the sociotechnical landscape is constantly evolving. Usability professionals have developed new usability methods and processes in order to address these changes in the socio-technical landscape. Likewise, the very concept of usability has been evolving to better fit into this ever changing socio-technical landscape. The evolved and adapted concept of usability has been feeding back to its socio-technical environment, thus creating a feedback loop. This position paper reflects this feedback loop and the concept of usability as a means of communication and shared language between stakeholders in the socio-technical systems development ...