A sceptic approach to User-Centred Design (Final Draft)

As a large share of the people who write about User-Centred Design seems to consist of gurus, visionaries and other enthusiasts, the story that is preached might be a bit too optimistic. Furthermore, with only some consensus on a high, abstract level, there is a lack of agreement on what UCD exactly is, which makes the concept rather ambiguous. Simultaneously, the amount of problems faced when trying to adopt a UCD process still inhibits this philosophy from making a real stand in day to day business practice. This calls for a sceptic approach of this matter. In this paper I will show the relation between the difficulties in defining User-Centred Design and the problems in its application. I will demonstrate how the heterogeneity and the over-optimism that surround the concept lead to a detached and isolated manner of performing it. A lack of integration and context leads to what I would like to call ‘UCD Islands’, which actually do not deserve the flag of UCD. I will make an attempt to reduce the misconceptions about UCD by increasing the tangibility of the concept. Finally, I will provide some ideas on how to cope with the problems surrounding it and in this way help moving UCD to the mainland.