Technology First, Needs Last

Don Norman's short essay arguing that the dominant pattern in tech product development is backwards: technology first, needs last, with user needs reverse-engineered after a technology has been chosen. The piece is compressed Norman — a pointed argument that reframes a pattern most practitioners would deny they are running while running it. For product direction the lesson is diagnostic: notice when a project has started from "we should use X technology" and is looking for a use case, versus started from "here is a need" and is looking for the right technology. Norman's jnd.org is full of pieces like this; read the piece, browse the site. A short, sharp essay.