Norman wrote an article at uigarden that doing user observations first is wrong. Oh deary. Well of course there is some more nuance to that. In a way he is right, we should not ask the user what to design, because he does not know. True, but as soon as you start designing, you will have to make decisions. And that is what this is about. How do you make your decisions. With or without consulting the users. Presenting users with your decisions will evoke reactions. Users will provide you with feedback that in many cases could improve your design.
Therefore I still think that a good contextual analysis of the user helps a designer in coming up with good solutions. The user should still be consulted, on a regular basis and preferably in early iteration too. Nevertheless I agree with the Don that the very first steps into a designproject should be set by the designer.
don norman @ uigarden – article