An enlightening post by
Josh Bernoff:
I promise to avoid the word user whenever possible.
I will think of people who use technology as people, customers, and friends. I won't use them, and they won't use me.
And another take on the topic by Jimmy Guterman at the
O'Reilly Radar:As has often been noted, there are only two industries that refer to their customers as users: high tech and illegal drugs. Is this the company we want to keep?
But perhaps the best crafted thoughts on this is one by
Don Norman:
Words matter. Psychologists depersonalize the people they study by calling them “subjects.” We depersonalize the people we study by calling them “users.” Both terms are derogatory. They take us away from our primary mission: to help people. Power to the people, I say, to repurpose an old phrase. People. Human Beings. That’s what our discipline is really about.