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An end user, in the context of information technology and software development, is defined as the ultimate final consumer or user of a product, system, or service. End users are individuals who interact directly with the final software application, hardware device, or digital service, utilizing its features and functionalities to meet their specific needs or requirements.
- Overview
- What is an end user?
- End user versus customer
- Tips for understanding the end user
- End user examples
An end user is the person a product development team has in mind when they design a product. They differ from customers because they can’t resell the product or service they purchase. If you work in product development, it can be beneficial to understand your end users.In this article, we define end users, explain how they're different from customers and provide tips and example scenarios to help you identify them.Key takeaways:
•The person or entity who purchases the services may not always be the end user.
•End users are consumers who use goods and services.
•Developers often consider delivery to end users as the last step in the production process.
An end user is a person for whom a product development team designs their product. The term "end user" is used in the product development process in software engineering, information technology and other technology-related fields. End users are the final consumers of a product at the end of the product development process. As a product developer, i...
"End user" and "customer" are similar terms, and they’re the same in some cases. However, it's important to understand how the two differ as you develop a product. An end user is someone who completes the final purchase of a product, while a customer can purchase a product and then resell it. If someone is both the purchaser and user of a product, ...
Determine the needs of your end user
One tip for considering your end user is to know their needs. To develop the best possible product for your intended users, you have to know what needs you can meet through your product. You can determine your end users' needs by asking what problem they have that you can solve with your product.Related: How To Understand Customer Needs in 4 Steps
Get input from your end users
Another tip is to get input from your end users. You can gather input through surveys, interviews and conversations, and you can use this input to inform your product development process and help you create a product that your customers want to use. Getting input can benefit your product development process in many ways, including: •Making it easier to identify and solve problems with the product •Getting ideas for product features that your end users enjoy •Learning what your end users like and dislike in products •Applying feedback that encourages people to adopt your products
Conduct usability testing
You can also conduct usability testing to get valuable information from your end users that can help you improve your product. Usability testing is the process of seeing how real users interact with and use a product. This can help you understand your users and make improvements to your product. Usability testing can take the form of interviews, surveys and other methods. It can help you determine if your end users can use your product to complete intended tasks.Related: How To Write a Survey That Works for You: Tips for Success
Example 1
Imagine that you're developing a software program that businesses can use to plan and execute their social media marketing campaign. A small marketing firm buys your software and uses it for its new social media campaign. In this case, the marketing firm is both the customer and the end user, as they both purchase and use the product.
Example 2
You're developing a new memory card that people can use to store large video files. A tech hardware company purchases your memory cards to sell to its customers, and one of its customers, a video content creator, buys a memory card to store their video files. In this case, the tech hardware company is your customer, as they purchase the memory card from you, and the end user is the video content creator who uses the memory card.
Example 3
Your company is developing a new planning software to make it easier for college students to stay organized. One student purchases your software to help them manage their homework, schedule and to-do list. Because the student purchased the product and also used it, the student is both a customer and an end user.
Apr 29, 2011 · Improving the quality of contributed software on the MATLAB file exchange. In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on End-User Software Engineering, in conjunction with the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing. [96] Henderson, A., and Kyng, M. 1991. There's no place like home: Continuing design in use.
- Amy J. Ko, Robin Abraham, Laura Beckwith, Alan Blackwell, Margaret Burnett, Martin Erwig, Chris Scaf...
- 2011
In applying this idea to end-user software engineering, one approach is for a tool to require up-front design. For example, ViTSL separates the modeling and data-entry as-pects of spreadsheet development [Erwig et al. 2005]. The spreadsheet model is captured as a template [Abraham et al. 2005] like the one in Figure 3.
Aug 17, 2023 · End User. An end user is the person that ultimately uses a piece of software or hardware. They are the last person at the end of the product development process after it has been designed, developed, tested, and delivered. Good product designers consider their needs during product development to create something they'll find helpful and ...
I describe a philosophy to software engineering for end users, and then survey several projects in this area. A basic premise is that end-user software engineering can only succeed to the extent that it respects the fact that the user probably has little expertise or even interest in software engineering. Download to read the full chapter text.
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What is an end user?
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What is end user programming?
End-User Development can be defined as a set of methods, techniques, and tools that allow users of software systems, who are acting as non-professional software developers, at some point to create, modify or extend a software artifact. Ko et al. propose the following definition: [13]
