User centered design...but centered for who?

Centered on the user for the user

I think this is the assumption that many people have when getting into user centered design and learning about it. Whatever is helpful to the user, the user gets. Remove all their obstacles.

Pro: Ease of use, smooth system.

Con: Users can’t see the whole system, and sometimes friction is needed to do things right.

Centered on the user for the company

This focuses on the user, but so that the user can accomplish the goals that the company wants them to accomplish. Hopefully these should align, but a lot of times they don’t. This is where dark patterns and too much of a focus on profit comes in.

Pro: Can design systematically to help large groups.

Con: The focus can easily change to be a focus on the company goals, rather than user goals.

Of course it’s more nuanced than this, but not everything has to be a dissertation.

Really what it comes down to is that centering the user is good, but how/why you're centering them, and what you're centering them in matters.