User driven UI design is a hot topic at the moment, but is it really the future of user experience? Should technology driven design be completely abandoned?

In answering this question it is important to be aware that these questions are part of a bigger issue. The more general question is whether design should take into account the practical aspects of its application. By looking at this broader question UI design can benefit from the experience of other disciplines.

One argument for design unconstrained by practicalities is that developers suffer from “when you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail”, that is they tend to simply adapt implementations which have been previously used rather than considering usability. The result is often a quick implementation, but poor user experience. There is no need to look to other disciplines for examples of this, simply browsing the internet gives plenty of fodder for this argument.

But if practical aspects are not given due care the resulting design may be difficult to implement, or not withstand the extremes of usage. It could be even worse if implementation is undertaken by those lacking in experience and the design flaw may not be realized until too late. In this case, the experience of other disciplines gives weight to the pracalities aware design proponents. Within IT such designs could lead to abandonment of projects or failures at testing, but visiblilty of this is only at the level of the company in question. In other disciplines the effect is more apparent to the independent observer. For example, many buildings and bridges have collapsed because their design overlooked the physical aspect of potential stresses, be it the action of the wind on the narrow Galloping Gertie or the collapse of buildings when earthquakes strike.

Clearly, designs that do not consider the practical limitations, from what is physically possible, and the effect of edge usage must be avoided. Yet poor usability it not acceptable. Both the user experience and the realities of application within the discipline must be considered during design. In UI design terms both user driven and technology driven design have merit, but they lie at opposite extremes. The compromise is to be aware of limitations of what is possible technologically, while applying usability principles, without forgoing an awareness of the extremes of usage.