Jef Raskin started the Macintosh project at Apple to design a product to meet the needs of computer users. The needs included the human-computer interface and the need to have a product that was within budget of the newly developing home computer market. Raskin has proposed that Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and their style of interaction are inappropriate for new devices, such as cell phones and and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). Raskin provides examples how computers can be made easier to learn and understand in his book, The Human Interface. Ever wonder why Windows or the Mac OS takes so long to boot up? Palm Pilots, your telephone, and other devices are instant on. The Humane Environment Project was created to "build better, faster to learn, easier to use, more efficient and lower cost ways to access the power of computing technology".
And I think that he is correct!
We need to understand the limitation of human cognition and memory, the needs of the users, and the context that devices are used we can build better software. When we look at innovators like IDEO and their holistic methods of problem definition, user observation, interface prototyping, and project evaluation, we can see that the human experience is a vital part of any product, service or environment.