More often than not, what determines the success of an Information Technologies project is not how well it addresses the needs of the its users, but how well it helps the end user to be perceived by others and how well the user can fit in within a larger group and thrive within it.

There are countless of well documented cases of excellent designs that do poorly among the consumers they are meant to serve and are perfectly design for.

Think about the Mac computer, which for all the well deserved praise, usability features, gorgeous design, ease of use, remains with less than a 5% of the market share.

Think about the Palm handheld devices, light, fast with lengthy battery life, innovative interface and all the insight of usability wizards and how they were quickly displaced by the clunky but highly compatible Windows based PDA’s.