Supportsoft Glossary

The Final Consumer of Digital Products

End-users are the final users of digital products, systems, and/or services who interact with the technology directly, while many other types of stakeholders have been involved in designing, developing, and implementing technology as it is being developed for use by end-users. End users will determine how the finished technology will function based on their needs, behaviours, and expectations.

Depending on the type of technology being produced, end-users can include customers, employees, students, and many others; therefore, they provide the perspective that is most often used to determine the design of the interface, usability, functionality, and accessibility of the technology. Understanding end-users – how end-users think and what end-users are currently facing – is fundamental to designing and developing products with a user-centric approach.

In software and IT support services, end-users have an influence on the support, training, and document requirements of their end-users. End-users have also played an essential role in providing feedback to design development teams to improve and refine features based on the needs of end-users. If a product does not meet the needs of end-users, this will reduce the adoption rate of that product, lead to high rates of churn, and ultimately, decrease the value of that product no matter how technically advanced it is behind the scenes.

Focusing on end-users will ultimately provide a more natural user experience that works intuitively and effectively for Real World Expectations (RWE) while measuring success based on end-users' interaction with the technology.