Towards user design?: On the shift from object to user as the subject of design

If design used to be a matter of physical form, its subject the material object, it now increasingly seems to be about the user and her experiences. A central problem with this development is the confusion between what we are designing and who is going to use it-the shift towards user design. Trying to optimise fit on basis of knowledge about use and users, we risk trapping people in a situation where the use of our designs has been over determined and where there is not enough space left to act and improvise. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.