There many reasons why, when it was first introduced in 2001, the original Apple iPod got so popular. Even though it was simpler, it had fewer features and it was more expensive than other MP3 players in the market, people loved it and it sold like hotcakes. The main reason for its popularity was that it was a pleasure to use: easy, fast, intuitive.

Unfortunately, compared to commercial products, a lot of the open source software out there is not very easy to use. A lot of OSS is built from the developer's perspective, without taking into account the user's experience. Too many buttons, unclear wording, and other faults play against the usability of OSS, reducing the number of people who will enjoy using it.

The good news is that making software easy to use is not that difficult, and it doesn't require having Apple's budget. OSS developers just need to take usability into consideration when building the apps they want to share with the world.

In this talk, I will give a short introduction to what usability is, explain the benefits that come from building usable software, and show how developers can increase the usability of their creations.