Human Centered Design Considered Harmful

Another paper in the "Considered Harmful" series is Human Centered Design Considered Harmful by Don Norman. In this paper Norman argues against Human Centered design and instead favors Activity Centered Design. Human centered design states that all computer activities should mold their form around the human, and designers should try to understand the human behind the interface. This, however, doesn't take the action into context and this is exactly what Norman points out. Norman points out that too much focus on the user can lead to a complicated software design and makes the software more difficult to update and create.
I agree with most of what Norman says in this paper, but believe that perhaps a balance between Human and Activity centered design is the ideal. The focus should be based on what part of the software is being designed and what is necessary at the time. This of course is a very path to walk down and is not easy to find.