psheridan's blog

The mantra of User Centered Design is "involve users throughout."  To a manager concerned about time, budget, and the project plan, this can seem like a logistical nightmare.  For internal application projects this can mean business analysts and interface designers are directed to get requirements by proxy from end user's managers.  Too often, this approach leads to analysis and design failures not caught until user acceptance testing at the end of the release cycle.

Let me start by saying layout and design are important. For the casual observer, usability means a visual design that is pleasing to the eye. Historically, web designers came primarily from print design backgrounds and as such, focused their talents on the static visual design aspects of early websites; headers, icons, logos, backgrounds, etc. While important, the implied focus of web design is too heavily weighted on expressing the individual creativity of the designer than it is on satisfying the needs of the customer.