According to Alan Cooper, the problem with software is not the way it works but the way the industry that makes it works. We're asking people who are masters of hard-edged technology to design the soft, human side of software as well. Because designers and programmers aren't just building flawed products. And it happens to divide neatly along economic lines.
Conceptual design shapes what a product does.
Interaction design determines how it behaves by examining what users are trying to do with it. Interface design affects how it looks and feels. Cooper's approach to design is winning lots of converts, including clients such as Sun Microsystems, Coca-Cola, Compaq, and Dow Jones. And it's already being applied to products such as image scanners and computerized medical devices. A few years ago, Cooper Interaction Design began working with Logitech International SA, a leading manufacturer of mice and other PC peripherals.