While making stuff, there is one trap I often fall into: thinking I’m the user. I make this worse by assuming people I debate decisions with are also thinking about the same user.

In 2012, I studied User-Centered Design at the University of Washington, and the course made me realize mistakes I made while designing things. The most unforgivable mistake was assuming I knew who the user was and not asking questions to clarify. I noticed this was a common error and started a campaign to get engineers to ask who is the user more often.

WhoIsTheUser.com is a way for me to share my campaign with you.

Disclosure: I work at Microsoft as a Program Manager on the Windows team. The opinions I express in my articles/blog posts/status updates, etc., are my own and do NOT reflect those of my employer.

To learn more about me, visit my website: www.dhruvsood.com. To get in touch, email WhoIsTheUser@Outlook.com.