User centered design comes from the understanding that we all are the user. Staying focused on constantly changing attitudes, advances and conditions can provide a cone-shaped result -- lots of input but very little productivity. Inverting the cone, you get a lot of productivity but very little insight into the things that touch us in real life. There needs to be struck a balance, and i refer to it as my Theory of Interactive Opposites, to wit: Things (and experiences) that are, by nature disruptive (interestingly, both fun and productivity are disruptive), require a level of comfort. Things comfortable require some disruption.That's just good, smart design. Thanks to my mentors BH, DR, and JS