If you read this article you’ll be a better designer/developer/producer because it’s going to be a swift kick to your groin. There’s a reason why 99% of all of the shit out there fails. It’s because somewhere in the design process common sense gets thrown out the window. I know you’re really good at engineering but that alone can’t be your product’s agenda. Look at the Segway, elegant engineering but completely missed the point. You can’t give those things away because no one wants to look like an idiot crawling down the street on their Dr. Evil Mobile. Ask yourself, what’s the first thing that anyone says when they see someone on a Segway? Invariably, while pointing it’s always, “check out that idiot!”. Want a tip? If you’re going to design a vehicle make sure people look cool riding in/on it. And for good measure when they are standing around it make sure that looks cool too.

Stop making Segways. I don’t mean that in the literal sense. I mean that in the general sense. Reconnect with your user base and get to know them. Most importantly remember that you’re designing for human beings and they don’t just have needs or wants they have desires too.

Don’t underestimate the power of EGO. Why else would people put cancer sticks in their mouths and light up? They want to feel like they look cool. That whole getting addicted to it thing comes much later down the line. Dying? It only makes you seem cooler. Everyone wants to be a harbinger of Cool.

If in real life Ego were the law then it’s doubly so on the internet. Give your users a way to show off. Whether it’s having the most epic loot in World of Warcraft, the most friends in Facebook, the best picture in Hot or Not, or the most thought provoking things to say in Twitter. The perception of “coolness” is a pot of gold. It doesn’t matter if anyone actually reads your tweets (trust me they don’t) but if you think that they do then you’ll tweet more often.

Describe your concept in a single sentence. Gaining traction in this ever expanding market is about turf wars. Things spread virally one person at a time. The more people you get spreading your gospel the further it goes. Each person who breaks the chain and doesn’t pass you along is a defeat. That is why it is critical to be as fluid and lubricated as possible. What is that one liner that each user is going to mention when their friend asks them, “why should I use this?”

You are designing for humans. I can’t emphasize this enough. The only reason interaction designers exist is because designers often forget to ask, What does the user want? Users are not dazzled by technology alone. That cool way that your widget gyro balances itself automatically - no one cares. It’s all about Me. How does it make my life easier? How does it make people like me more? Me me me me me…

The big question on every user’s mind is, How can your thing make me seem cooler?