Imagine designing a chair. You could make it look sleek, but if it’s uncomfortable, no one will use it. User-centered design (UCD) flips the script: it starts with the people who will actually use the product. It’s about asking, “What problem are we solving, and who are we solving it for?”

Imagine a woman named Margaret. She’s sitting in a sunlit room, her hands trembling slightly, her eyes distant. She has dementia. Words often fail her, but when a caregiver plays a song from her youth—Blue Moon by Frank Sinatra—her face lights up. She hums along, her foot tapping to the rhythm. For a moment, she’s Margaret, the woman who danced to this song at her high school prom.