Lucy Suchman’s work at Xerox helped us see that for technology to really work, it has to make sense in people’s everyday lives, not just in the way designers imagine it should. Watching how copier operators struggled with confusing instructions showed that real users don’t always follow the steps designers expect—they interact with technology in their own ways, often trying to “figure it out” as they go. Her insights pushed designers to think beyond just creating a tool that functions technically and to consider whether it’s genuinely easy and helpful for people to use in real life. This way of thinking, called human-centered design, helps ensure that technology feels intuitive, adaptable, and designed around real users’ needs and habits. Her insights encourage us to consider not just whether technology “works” technically, but whether it genuinely works for the people intended to use it.