Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful
Interesting shift by Donald Norman, who now suggest that designers may be missing many opportunities by spending too much energy focusing on user-centered design:
"The historical record contains numerous examples of successful devices that required people to adapt to and learn the devices. People were expected to acquire a good understanding of the activities to be performed and of the operation of the technology. None of this “tools adapt to the people” nonsense — people adapt to the tools."
Don's suggestion of using Activity-Centered Design (ACD) is not new. Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction explored similar topics in 1996. So, I guess, Peter Merholz is right is saying that Don's article is not teaching anything new, but it is definitely bringing the topic into active consciousness.
Permalink | Monday, August 01, 2005
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