I’ve often marveled at the naivete of designers that are so excited about their cool new web interface, or developers who are so proud of their shiny new service or method when, in reality, their creations are only novelties because they don’t solve a real need.  Cool for cool’s sake is not good design (or good code).  Good design meets a need, helps the user/customer accomplish a goal.  So, to have good design, you first must know your customer.

Along the same line is this great quote about innovation from The Game-Changer by A. G. Lafley and Ram Charan:

To understand innovation, you first have to see the differences between an invention and an innovation.  An invention is a new idea that is often turned into a tangible outcome, such as a product or a system.  An innovation is the conversion of a new idea into revenues and profits.  An idea that looks great in the lab and fails in the market is not an innovation; it is, at best, a curiosity.  As Jeff Immelt once put it, “Innovation without a customer is nonsense; it’s not even innovation.”

I would add that a design that doesn’t meet a customer’s need is not a design.  It is, at best, a curiosity.  Great designs have purpose, they achieve a goal.  And if they are cool in the process, all the better.  But, if they are “cool” without getting the job done, they are, at best, curiosities.