Software architects are busy these days thinking about service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web services - important things, no doubt. But if they want users to connect to their applications on an emotional level, architects need to start paying more attention to the user experience, according to Simon Guest, group program manager for architecture strategy at Microsoft.

Just before TechEd this summer, TheServerSide.NET had an opportunity to talk with Simon Guest about architecting for end users. They are sometimes the 'odd man out' after all the infrastructure and communications pipes have been built. Many a house has been architected without making adequate provisions for the people living there.

Simon Guest is a director in the Architecture Strategy Team at Microsoft, leading a team specializing in content and community for the IT Architect audience. Drawing on experience in the Financial, Retail, and Telecom industries, Guest enjoys taking an objective and pragmatic approach to solutions architecture using Microsoft technology. Guest is the editor-in-chief of the Microsoft Architecture Journal as well as an author of many articles in the MSDN library. Guest holds a Higher National Certificate in Software Engineering from Plymouth College and a Masters Degree in IT Security from the University of Westminster, London.