The Art of Agile Product Ownership: A Guide for Product Managers, Business Analysts, and Entrepreneurs

© Allan Kelly 2019

A. KellyThe Art of Agile Product Ownershiphttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-5168-3_6

6. Customers, Users, and Stakeholders

Allan Kelly¹ 

(1)

London, UK

 

There is only one valid definition of a business purpose: to create a customer.

—Peter Drucker¹

Personally, I dislike the term “user” because it does not respect those who engage with products, rather it makes those who use computer products sound like drug addicts. That said, “user” is the term the IT industry has adopted. No other term is as widely known.

The term customer is a potential alternative to user and does command respect. However, I think the two terms are used to describe different types of people.

Both customers and users—whether the terms describe the same people ...