It’s easy to fall back on the word “user’ to describe who visits your Web site. But that makes it sounds like they’re junkies, or zombies, and it’s so… impersonal.
It’s hard to avoid the term “user”, I’ll admit. In the Web world we bandy about phrases like “user experience”, “user interface” and of course “username”. And I’ll also admit I user those terms.
Still, I think designers should employ the term only sparingly in their discussions about an interface, because I believe it puts you in the wrong frame of mind if your goal is to design easy-to-use Web sites. The folks who come to your site aren’t “users”, automatons or widgets – they’re human beings.
They’re people, people! They are Jane, Jen, Sarah and Jeff, Brynn, Jamie, Ben and Wendy. If we think a little bit more clearly about who is using a Web site, we’ll be able think more clearly about what they need to do on that site, and that will help us in turn think more clearly about how to create a great online experience for them.