Tom Davidson Blog 4

Is the user always correct?
No. The user is not always correct. The user can be on the right track and can be an excellent indicator of what needs to be changed, but more often than not, they don't really know exactly what they want. If the user knew exactly what they wanted, we wouldn't be designers. We'd just be a medium for the users to communicate to engineers.

Should the designer always provide more features just because user(s) asked for them?
The adding of new features should be well thought out before doing so. Sometimes users might think they want more features, but once they're made available, will just complain about clutter or find the feature useless. It is very important to listen to the users and take their suggestions seriously. If one user suggests something and others don't, it might be a good idea to mention the idea and see what other users think about it. If more than one user mentions the idea or the majority mentions it, it might be a good idea to add it to your application.

Is there a larger "user-centered" focus that Hoekman advocates?
I believe that Hoekman is saying to listen to the user in order to understand what they need. Consider their answers yet look through them at the same time. Look for a deeper meaning in what they're saying. Like I mentioned earlier, if what the users suggested was always right, they wouldn't need designers.

Project 2 eliminations
As was mentioned in an earlier post, I would take out some of the preset workouts. I've spent the majority of the past few years in one gym or another and even when I was first starting, I never used the preset workouts. Those workouts aren't customizable enough and typically aren't even appropriately labeled. This specific machine requires the user to begin working out in order to activate it in an attempt to save energy, yet it doesn't indicate anywhere that it requires motion to start. It would be a good idea to say somewhere on the machine that it must be used to activate.