Microsoft wasn't born as an enterprise company. We have always been growing with end users in mind.
People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on marketing research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.
The only important thing about design is how it relates to people.
What I tell founders is not to sweat the business model too much at first. The most important task at first is to build something people want. If you don't do that, it won't matter how clever your business model is.
The rise of Google, the rise of Facebook, the rise of Apple, I think are proof that there is a place for computer science as something that solves problems that people face every day.
The fundamental truth for developers is they will build if there are users.
Serving our end users is at the heart of what we do and remains our number one priority.
In general, it's best if you're building something that you yourself need.
You cannot defend your design without knowing what you're designing for.
User-centered design means understanding what your users need, how they think, and how they behave - and incorporating that understanding into every aspect of your process.
Good products are built by people who want to use it themselves
If you don't need it yourself, and you're building something that someone else needs, realize you're at a big disadvantage.
Software sucks because users demand it to.
Innovation is hard because solving problems people didn't know they had & building something no one needs look identical at first.
There's a fundamental problem with how the software business does things. We're asking people who are masters of hard-edged technology to design the soft, human side of software as well. As a result, they make products that are really cool - if you happen to be a software engineer.
The role of designers and product makers is to really become much better editors. What kind of functionality is actually needed - and truly delightful - to consumers? Remove all the extraneous stuff.
Our job as the game creators or developers - the programmers, artists, and whatnot - is that we have to kind of put ourselves in the user's shoes. We try to see what they're seeing, and then make it, and support what we think they might think.
Men have no concept of how to design things for the home. Women should design the things they use.
You are not designing for yourself, and shouldn't be. Most people using the Web don't understand (most of) what makes it work and don't want to. Design for those people. There are many more of them than you.
With 100 million people, somebody is using your product in some interesting way. If you change it... you're going to break some use cases.
As more people use social media to tell the story of the future, the wants and needs of more people will be reflected.
Design is people.
Empathy is key in the design process, especially when you start expanding outside of your comfort zone to new languages, cultures, and age groups. If you try to assume what those people want, you're likely to get it wrong.
Design must reflect the practical and aesthetic in business but above all... good design must primarily serve people.
People are looking for more than a faster and faster PC. It has to do what they want. Will it fill some void, add some value, deliver something that they can't do previously at a price that people are willing to pay for?
