Don Norman on the pitfalls of human-centred design
Human-centred design has become such a dominant theme in design that it is now accepted by interface and application designers automatically, without thought, let alone criticism. That’s a dangerous state — when things are treated as accepted wisdom.
The purpose of this essay [published in the July|August 2005 edition of Interactions Magazine] is to provoke thought, discussion and reconsideration of some of the fundamental principles of human-centred design. These principles can be helpful, misleading or wrong. At times, they might even be harmful. Activity-centred design is superior.
