The ten reasons ease of use doesn't happen on engineering projects

• From reason 5:”I’ve heard of teams using all their planning time doing research (typically resulting in a panic attack when specs are due), when instead they should be using at least half of their planning time generating ideas and prototypes and applying the research to actual new decisions.”
• From reason 13: “There is a difference in mentality and philosophy between generating and refining ideas, and implementing them. For a first rate design of any kind to be generated, time must be spent exploring alternatives, and learning about the problem space that the design needs to solve. “

Scott Berkun —The ten reasons ease of use doesn’t happen on engineering projectsUIWeb.com)

The title is inaccurate (there are 13 reasons listed) and not exactly snappy, and the text overuses passive verbs, but Berkun makes an excellent argument for the importance of prototypes, usability testing, and all the other vitally important creative tasks that can fall by the wayside when a group tries to focus like a laser beam on meeting a set of deadlines.