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Product usability is a product quality that ensures efficient and effective products which satisfy users. In spite of the many usability techniques that are available many users still experience usability problems when using electronic products. In this paper we present two studies that explore the (mis)match between the types of uncertainty addressed by existing usability techniques and the types of uncertainty in the product development process that can eventually result in usability problems. To explore this (mis)match, two studies are presented. The first study is to discover which usability techniques are used in practice to retrieve usability information to address the different types of uncertainty. The second study is a case study in product development practice which explores the types of uncertainty that causes the usability problems of a specific product. The overall contribution of this paper is that it offers greater insight into how usability techniques (do not) address uncertainty in the product development process.

Wargaming is a standard training tool to prepare military officers for real life situations and to help armed forces with developing and testing military plans. Since the mid-1950s, business has also increasingly recognized that the principle of wargaming can be valuable to support planning and decision-making in business management. Various business management games have been developed since then with different purposes including the training of managers and (management) students and helping to test a business strategy. This paper explores the use of "new product development wargaming", which was developed based on the concept of the Russian Open Game and the proven practice of business wargaming by the Product Innovation group at Philips Applied Technologies. , To give new product development training to design students from Eindhoven University of Technology. The use of "new product development wargaming" as a laboratory for design education is studied.