Geekender Gallery: Top 10 usability greats

Isn't there an easier way to do this? If asking the question demonstrates our intelligence, it's finding the answer that proves our usability expertise. More intuitive use, a more enjoyable experience and improved productivity — in other words, getting more stuff done with less pain — are goals that predate the computer age by quite a long time...

250,000 BC Tool use

Banging, chipping, shaving, hewing, shaping, stirring, piercing, reaching... tool use has to be our first great usability breakthrough. The ability to recognise that the devices and materials lying around can be adapted to help us achieve our goals was evidence of our understanding of causality ("If I do this, that happens"), a major advance in human cognitive capabilities. Building and using tools pushed us straight to the top of the food chain, where we've been ever since, carrying out usability evaluations of our tools.