In my career I have found that most information systems can be broken down into 4 high level components - input forms, output, whether it is to the screen or print, data storage and processing that ties it all together.While traditional application design has spent it's time in the reverse order - that is starting with the processing and ending with input forms - inverting this paradigm can lead to greatly enhancing the human usability of a given system. Increased usability directly correlates to how quickly and thoroughly it will be adopted.
Apple is a perfect example of this. Twice Apple has broken the mold by generating a new paradigm for usability. First in the early 1980's Apple introduced the Macintosh with a graphical user interface. Then in 2007 Apple again revolutionized the way we interface with devices when they introduced the iPhone.
Most people today take for granted graphical user interfaces, such as Microsoft's Windows and have only limited knowledge of the computer green screens from the past. Likewise, many of the gestures and interface designs pioneered by Apple in the iPhone are now the norm for phones.
Finally, application development capabilities have progressed such that most anything which can be visualized can be programmed. Thus the focus of design needs to shift towards the human factors and much greater time spent on both the usability and aesthetics of applications.
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