A user is someone who frequently uses a service.
A user is someone who ordinarily uses something , according to the definition offered by the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) . The term, which comes from the Latin usuarius , refers to the person who uses some type of object or who is the recipient of a service , whether private or public.
For example: “Telecommunications users have the right to demand that operators fulfill what they promise in their promotions” , “A Facebook user committed suicide because of the criticism his friends left on his virtual wall” , “Good afternoon, I would like to make a complaint about the interruption of the service; my user number is 53542” .
The notion of user is very popular in the field of computing . In this sense, a user can be either a person or a computer or an application, since the concept is linked to access to certain resources or devices.
Types of users
The end user is the person to whom a product is intended when it has already passed the various stages of development. This is, therefore, the subject who has direct interaction with the product.
A registered user is someone who has an identifier (user name) and an access key (also known as a password) to use an Internet service. The registration process can be free or paid, and after it, the client obtains his or her own account that stores his or her personal information (his or her name, an email address, etc.); this allows him or her to access information that is not available to those people who are not registered in the system in question.
Designers need to consider several issues to ensure a good user experience.
Creating an ideal experience
When a software developer sets out to create a program or a video game, he or she must take into account a number of key points, most of which revolve around the user experience. In the field of software and digital entertainment, the word customer is too cold to talk about consumers; referring to them as users alludes to a very particular level of intimacy, given the closeness between them and the products.
For this reason, every aspect of development must be carefully reviewed, trying to put yourself in the user's shoes to assess their potential satisfaction at every step. Let's look at some of the design pillars that directly affect consumers:
- The graphical interface : these are all the elements present on the screen that allow navigation through the program . These can be buttons, drop-down lists and menus, among others, and they represent the means by which the user interacts with the software, so it is essential that it is clear, concise and that it responds in a solid and consistent manner to commands.
- Controls : Computer programs often rely on the classic mouse and keyboard combination, but since the birth of touchscreen devices, the variety of control types has grown considerably. From gestures to adapting mouse actions to the tip of a finger, the possibilities are endless. It is important to seek the greatest possible functionality, always thinking about what a user would do guided simply by intuition , without having read the instructions.
- Functionality : Software development companies must always find a balance between the time needed to create a product, the number of employees and the number of features to be included, in order for their projects to be profitable. However, in this quest to balance resources, it is essential not to make cuts that hinder the user experience or frustrate them due to the lack of an element that they consider essential.