David S. Platt, author of Why Software Sucks…And What You Can Do About It, begins with a few principles, the first one being: Know Thy User, For He Is Not Thee. While this seems like a no-brainer to us when we build interfaces for specialty purposes - we know that a website created to primary appeal to, say software developers - or real estate agents, or rocket scientists, or any one of the many audiences we could choose, there often comes a point when assumptions creep in about how “everyone” will use a site.

It’s a humbling experience, then, watching users of a generation or two younger put a website through its paces. The expectations for the Millenial generation are quite different than the generations that precede them. Generation M grew up with technology, and they expect it to “just work”. The patience, or lack of it, when something goes wrong, sends them immediately to find satisfaction on another site. And they are confident that there is another site, one that works better. Aside from having good usability, they expect the site to be engaging and entertaining. Reading is a “blah blah” exercise, and they expect that whatever is being offered will fit into the way they interact with technology.

Joern Bodemann presents the results of usability research showing how user expectation is matched to software design and content delivery, in his presentation, Usability Matters ... Or, Why On Earth Did They Design It That Way?, at Web Content 2009 Chicago.