Factories exist to cost-efficiently produce products that people will buy. If the production process is inefficient and ineffective then the factory might fail because the product is unreliable, unit cost is too high for consumers, or because the supply cannot meet the demand so consumer choose alternatives. The driver for Industry 4.0 ‘smart’ factories is to control robotics with ‘artificially intelligent’ computer systems equipped with machine learning algorithms that can learn and minimize input from human operators. However, ‘smart’ factories are socio-technical systems and humans will still be needed for executive and supervisory control and for maintenance and operational upgrades. All components in a ‘smart factory’ will, at some point have been designed by humans, including the hardware and software. Machines will still be maintained by humans. If people do not buy the products then even the smartest factory will fail. User-Centered Design (UCD) is an iterative design approach that identifies user needs, and that applies human factors, ergonomics, usability engineering, and other techniques to focus on those user needs and requirements to optimize the design of the socio-technical system. This keynote will explore potential benefits of integrating UCD into Industry 4.0 thinking.