The word "user," long used in the computer software industry to refer to the person who will be using the software, is now being called into question. With social media sites, such as Facebook, and sites with user-created content, such as Wikipedia and YouTube, the demarcation between the developer and the user has been blurred. The people using the application create the content of the site itself. We no longer have a clear model in which the developer creates a tool and people merely use the tool.
The term "user" has also been critiqued because it obscures the fact that people use software and web sites in different ways. Sometimes the "user" is a customer, sometimes a contributor, sometimes an employee, sometimes a learner. In many cases, one of these words would be more accurate than the catch-all "user."
In IconLogic's more recent "skills and drills" workbooks, the word "user" appears less and less. Instead, they refer to their "skills and drills" readers as "you" instead of "the user." Books that might have said "the user would then click the OK button" now say "you would then click the OK button."
In my own training, I have started using the word "learners" or the phrase "person who is learning the application." The transition took less than half a morning, and I think these terms focus attention more exactly on the relationship of the person to the training process than the generic term "user."
Nevertheless, if you read back over this article, you will find that at many junctures I still had to use the word "user" for the generic person who might be accessing a web site or software program. For that reason, I do not think the term is going to completely disappear. "Computer user" and "user-friendly" are probably here to stay, at least for a while.
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Hi Jennie,
I enjoy your grammar posts very much, I always learn something new (or refresh something previously learned but since forgotten!). Regarding the word “user,” you make an interesting point regarding the lines being blurred between users and developers in these days of web 2.0 (and beyond). I also think it is much more, ahem, user-friendly to use the word “you” in training materials rather than the third person “user clicks on…” etc. It makes the training more immediate for the learner, rather than removed and hard to follow. I also agree that whenever possible, one should substitute the generic term “user” for a more specific one, such as “customer”, “learner”, or “you,” as applicable. However, I disagree with phasing out the use of the term “user” completely, since it really is the best fit in many cases. I think it’s most helpful in those scenarios in which you are explaining information (logistical or procedural) to a trainer, especially in an instructor guide for hands-on classroom training for a computer-based application. I just think it is a great word that is actually not so generic when it is used for specific purposes, i.e., when directed at a training audience who truly are software end-users as opposed to contributors. Thanks for listening!
Hi Jennie,
I enjoy your grammar posts very much, I always learn something new (or refresh something previously learned but since forgotten!). Regarding the word “user,” you make an interesting point regarding the lines being blurred between users and developers in these days of web 2.0 (and beyond). I also think it is much more, ahem, user-friendly to use the word “you” in training materials rather than the third person “user clicks on…” etc. It makes the training more immediate for the learner, rather than removed and hard to follow. I also agree that whenever possible, one should substitute the generic term “user” for a more specific one, such as “customer”, “learner”, or “you,” as applicable. However, I disagree with phasing out the use of the term “user” completely, since it really is the best fit in many cases. I think it’s most helpful in those scenarios in which you are explaining information (logistical or procedural) to a trainer, especially in an instructor guide for hands-on classroom training for a computer-based application. I just think it is a great word that is actually not so generic when it is used for specific purposes, i.e., when directed at a training audience who truly are software end-users as opposed to contributors. Thanks for listening!
Hi Jennie,
I enjoy your grammar posts very much, I always learn something new (or refresh something previously learned but since forgotten!). Regarding the word “user,” you make an interesting point regarding the lines being blurred between users and developers in these days of web 2.0 (and beyond). I also think it is much more, ahem, user-friendly to use the word “you” in training materials rather than the third person “user clicks on…” etc. It makes the training more immediate for the learner, rather than removed and hard to follow. I also agree that whenever possible, one should substitute the generic term “user” for a more specific one, such as “customer”, “learner”, or “you,” as applicable. However, I disagree with phasing out the use of the term “user” completely, since it really is the best fit in many cases. I think it’s most helpful in those scenarios in which you are explaining information (logistical or procedural) to a trainer, especially in an instructor guide for hands-on classroom training for a computer-based application. I just think it is a great word that is actually not so generic when it is used for specific purposes, i.e., when directed at a training audience who truly are software end-users as opposed to contributors. Thanks for listening!