Before you design something for people, sit where they sit. The best ideas come from someone else’s chair.

Designing without sitting in the other seat means designing for an imaginary person who happens to think exactly like you. The details that matter are almost never the ones you would guess, such as where their hands are, what they are already carrying, how loud it is, how tired they are by that point in the day. Those only show up when you are physically there.

Before you make something for other people, spend ten minutes where they will use it. Watch one person get stuck. Build for what stopped them rather than for what you pictured.