[bryanlanders]

Bugs and "known issues" become personal flaws. How well the user accomplishes his or her goals become a personal reflection of the creators.

It's a dangerous idea for performers to hang their ego on a performance. Just because you played a crap guitar solo one night does not mean you're a bad person. It's all part of a process - you can learn from what didn't work and try something different tomorrow night. The more time you're in the process, the better your performance gets.

A great performance is about making the audience feel something. Sometimes you can feel like it was your worst solo every, but the audience loved it because you really took a chance and went for something and they were with you for the adventure. It's not as entertaining to watch you play it safe even if it's technically more refined.

To stick with the guitar example, compare Kurt Cobain's guitar solos to those of Django Reinhardt - both made for a great performance, but they are on different planets in terms of complexity and sophistication. My significant other and I have been playing Draw Something and I find it ugly and ad-ridden, yet I love playing the game because we have fun and enjoy the challenge.

He will never accept anything less than perfection because it would be a personal reflection of himself; he loves what he does and it shows through his work.

The best artists I've learned from didn't reach high levels because of ego or a desire to appear perfect. They were able to put unfathomable amounts of energy into honing their craft because they were that passionate about it. The love of the process is what enables the quality of the finished product. Jony Ive strikes me as this kind of artist. His obsession with the process is clear - his love of materials, creativity in inventing new methods of machining...everything right up until when you're holding the device in your hand as the user feeling something.

[mikeg8]

Designing a product is much different than executing a musical performance because playing guitar on stage contains elements out of your total control like a broken guitar string, amp malfunction etc. Sometimes they miss a note, that's not a mental lapse, it can be a physical disconnect between what their mind is trying to accomplish and what their finger actually does.

A designer has total control over a product before it is released. This article is about the mental pursuit of perfection.

[NathanKP]

A designer does not have total control except in the most ideal of circumstances. In the real world there are deadlines, a budget, the whims of clients to cater to, and investors to impress. It's nice to think that perfection is possible but realistically compromisesl must be made in the real world.

[timerickson]

And you think programming/product design is unaffected by these disconnects?

What if a server crashes? What if Illustrator doesn't draw the exact like the hand performed?

There are physical and technological disconnects in much the same respect as a musical performance.