Starting off by just creating anything so you have something to start with.

Specific questions were posed like whether test users were able to copy a file within ten minutes.

All but advanced users thought if a window was occluded then it no longer existed.

Most people do not understand heirarchical filesystems and just save files in the default path of the program they use.

Specifications were sacrificed for iteration speed.

More meetings were used to hold everything together; emails for user testing schedules, meetings with design teams, meetings with outsiders to present progress.

Constraining the UI with "beginner shells" made the system more usable. But the skills did not transfer to higher user levels, and it was not similar to the programs they were actually running.

Task bars were created to show that a program is still open even if the window is not visible. The task bar is always visible so the user doesn't think *that* has stopped existing.

"Call generators" as in measuring which screens and features result in the most calls to tech support.

Relational database was cobbled together to track user complaints and work on those issues.

UI iterations were tested in user labs.