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Words Matter. Talk About People: Not Customers, Not Consumers, Not Users

Welcome back," the hotel clerk at the front desk said to me. "I see you will be staying with us for four nights this time?"

"Thank you," I reply, pleasantly surprised that their computer system recognized me as a frequent visitor to this hotel (I knew the clerk didn't recognize me). "Four nights? I don't know -- I'm leaving Saturday."

Let us dissect the clerk's greeting. "Welcome back" is nice: it signals me that I am recognized, possibly even valued. But what about "staying four nights"? That is a hotel-centered statement. The hotel, and the clerk at the front desk, are interested in how many nights I occupy a room. That is how they think about their business. But the average hotel guest thinks in terms of schedule.

Artisan? Customer? Consumer? User? Wrangler? Biot? Each of these words is a way to degrade the people for whom we design, a way of labeling them as objects instead of personifying them as real living, breathing people.

Years ago, in my research group at the University of California, San Diego, I remember Liam Bannon passionately arguing that the terms we used would control the way we thoughtacted, behaved and, ultimately, designed., Do not make your systems idiot or fool proof, he convincingly preached, for why would you want to think of your constituency as idiots or fools? Yup. Bannon’s teachings apply just as strongly today. We no longer talk of idiot proofing, but why do we degrade people by the passive, inert term of “user.” People are rich, complex beings. They use our devices with specific goals, motives, and agendas. Often they work with – or against – others. A label such as customer, consumer or user ignores this rich structure of abilities, motives, and social structures.