I was in a meeting discussing the redesign of our product’s Information Architecture (IA for short). There were many different stakeholders in the room. People were throwing their ideas here and there. Throughout our conversation, I listened and observed that many would use phrases like “…for our users,” “…this can also be good for our consumers,” and “if we are going to redesign how our visitors interact with…”

Then, I got confused. Further, I asked, “Can we take a moment and pause—what is our definition of Users, Customers, Consumers, and some also use Visitors?”

When they say “Users,” “Consumers,” or “Visitors,” they are actually talking about the same definition—which is the end user. The one who is interacting with our product. Yet, we are all using different labels to identify them.

Sure, there are much bigger problems in the digital product space than correcting how people address or label their types of users.

However, here’s how I would challenge you on the other side of the coin: Isn’t it considered a bare essential for all stakeholders (yes, including designers) to understand the correct way to label them? Allow me to paint a (hopefully) easy example to understand this.

Imagine you have a Lego bricks:

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My point here is you need to get the label right, as it will influence your narrative throughout building your product. Plus, if you get your label right, it will help to correctly segment your personas.

Let’s have a look at a real-world example. Say, you work at Figma.

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Get it?