Abstract

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.