&gt;  I guess it is easier, and more enjoyable, to design and build things that seem useful,<p>I agree with this. We (IT people) are so self-centred that it hurts. :) We do &quot;everything&quot; - we &quot;entertain&quot; ourselves with new approaches, frameworks, management ideas - except actually &quot;talking&quot; to and &quot;knowing&quot; our users, their life ands true needs.<p>It&#x27;s particularly sad, at least for me, to see UX also being &quot;shaped&quot; like this. We can get essay-like posts on building an icon family, yet it&#x27;s hard to find good content regarding how company X got to know their users and build what they really wanted.