Do I need to write a Web page with the title Ending the cult of the 'normal user' in Interface Design?
The short version of such a Web page would contain a Venn diagram with a large number of intersecting circles representing the needs of different users. Under the diagram would be a simple question: "Are you designing for the intersection or the union set?".
What I actually think would be really neat is a UI authoring kit aimed at interested people and not requiring huge coding experience. Such a kit would gently encourage users/UI authors to think about the flow of activities and would mirror the limitations of the widget libraries. Something visual working a bit like puredata. That would get some interesting alternatives out there, it would let people who want something different design it for themselves, and it would give a wider range of people an insight into UI design principles.
I suspect they have cottoned on but design for the mass audience and assume that niche needs will be covered by applications or that people will tweak.
Honestly, academia is constantly coming up with visual design tools and they don't do much at all for the world of software development. Maybe they help bridge students into using real IDEs and writing real programs, but they are failures, pretty much. Well I'm sure they've gotten a lot of people doctorates for writing them, so actually they accomplished their purpose.
The short version of such a Web page would contain a Venn diagram with a large number of intersecting circles representing the needs of different users. Under the diagram would be a simple question: "Are you designing for the intersection or the union set?".
What I actually think would be really neat is a UI authoring kit aimed at interested people and not requiring huge coding experience. Such a kit would gently encourage users/UI authors to think about the flow of activities and would mirror the limitations of the widget libraries. Something visual working a bit like puredata. That would get some interesting alternatives out there, it would let people who want something different design it for themselves, and it would give a wider range of people an insight into UI design principles.