Forging a partnership between designer and user (01 Sep 2004)

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Forging a partnership between designer and user (01 Sep 2004)
To form a successful partnership, both designers and users need to change their approach. First, designers need to think differently about their role. Usability is the primary responsibility of the Web designer-a Web page that cannot be used successfully is worthless. Designers must work within the medium and deliver content in a format that can be transformed as needed by the user. Second, designers need to respect the boundaries of the user-controlled environment. When these boundaries are crossed, even with the best intentions, usability suffers. And finally, users need to become better acquainted with their Web environment. They need to learn the functions and features that are under their control, and use the available tools to customize their environment.

Now, I know what you're thinking: 'That’s fine, but my users can't manage the Back button, never mind customizing their text settings. How can I expect them to master their environment?' While I do not have a blanket solution to raising user proficiency, I do know that users will not even get the chance to control their environment if we keep making decisions for them.

Article URL: http://www.digital-web.com/articles/designer_user_partnership/

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