The FOSS movement has failed to appeal to end users, and a big part of that is the chronic inability of FOSS leaders to understand UX. Us programmers want to b

The FOSS movement has failed to appeal to end users, and a big part of that is the chronic inability of FOSS leaders to understand UX. Us programmers want to believe that technology is enough. That just because because our implantation is technically superior in x, y and z metrics, consumers should be flocking to our solutions. But that’s not good enough. We have to get the technology right, and we have to make the product a joy to use. As you said, there is a real disconnect between technical people and users. User-centered design tends to be treated with a kind of hostility. It’s often viewed as “dumbing down” rather than making the product better. I’m not sure why this disconnect exists, but until we close it, customers will continue to flock to closed ecosystem solutions.