I have often talked about the usability of government texts, and I’ve thought about how effective the idea of usability is for evaluating such writing. I became familiar with the book User-Centered Translation (in Finnish) through one of its authors, and learned that the issue is being explored in the field of translation studies. While the authors suspect that this concept is not widely applied, they believe the idea of user-centeredness—taking the reader into account—has a fundamental place in translation as in all forms of communications. What benefits do we gain if we replace reader with user? I think a user perspective more clearly emphasizes the relationship between the reader, the type of text and the reader’s context: the written word is a tool intended to achieve a specific purpose, and the time spent by the reader is weighed against the value he derives. The most obvious application for usability is for technical writing, but it can also be applied to government regulations and forms. On a broader level, usability refers to user interaction with any situation facilitated by text. The more such writing is user-centered, the more quickly and accurately—and even more enjoyably—the reader can take it in as well as apply his new understanding.