4-Adam Combs

The user is not always right and the user is not always wrong.  Problems arise with user-centered design because too much focus is placed on individual users.  It is impossible for one user to represent the wide variety that most application audiences contain.  When a design is focused on the needs of a certain persona, the needs of other users can be alienated.  Hoekman suggests that designers should not focus on users, instead the focus should be on the situations in the application's use.  He points out that "situations are comprised of who, what, when, where, and why" and the "applications are the how".  Designers can observe users or immerse themselves into these situations to decide the application design.  Use cases, which break the application's operation down into step-by-step instructions, can be helpful to let the designer think about situations that users will encounter.  Analyzing the situations in each step of the use case from project 2 may have been more helpful in designing a new interface for all users.