Usability in Russia

Even though Russia is the largest country in the world (16,377,742 km of land), its 142 million population is sparsely distributed across the vast land and concentrated in the European part. 73% of the population lives in urban areas while 27% are in rural areas. The country’s population is predominately ethnic Russian (79%), and for 92% of it Russian is the first language. Russia’s GDP in 2008 was 1,418 billion USD, and average salary in 2009 was 642 USD, although it is greatly varied depending on the region. In Moscow, for example, the average salary was 1,090 USD. Educational level is high: 157 out of 1,000 adults have higher education (Russian Federal State Statistics Service 2009a). Only 20 years ago the country underwent rapid and profound transformations, in which its entire political and economic systems were revamped. State-investment in the knowledge intensive sectors of the economy dwindled, while the new and privatized industries of information, communication and technology developed. This resulted in emergence of the IT market, and consequently, the structure and organization of usability research. Most of it is conducted today in the private sector.