Core Users and Occasional Users

Core Users and Occasional Users

One way you could do this is to group your users as Core Users and Occasional Users.

Core Users have one or more of these characteristics: 

• Require access to the greatest range of functions that the application provides and use many of them most of the time.

• Use the application as a key component of their jobs (sometimes all day, everyday).

• Are experts at using the application and require interfaces designed for experts. 

• Are heavily affected in productivity and morale terms by response times. 

• Require a high degree of integration with other applications on their desktops.

• Usually have high-speed TCP/IP connection to the server system typically from inside the corporate firewall. 

• Usually work from a fixed location and/or use same workstation (fixed or mobile).

• Are often directly employed or sub-contracted by your organization.

Occasional Users have one or more of these characteristics:

• Require access to a limited range of the functions that the application provides.

• Use very few of the application functions and only use them occasionally.

• Are novices at using the application and require interfaces designed for novices. 

• Are not really affected in productivity and morale terms by response times. 

• Often only have Internet HTTP connection to the server from outside of the firewall. 

• Are often mobile, accessing the application from changing locations and from different workstations. 

• May have business relationships with your organization, but are not employed by it. 

In user interface terms what this means is:

• Core users usually need fully functioned Windows interfaces (e.g. MS-Excel or MS-Word level interfaces). The interfaces are installed on their workstations or are accessible from high-speed servers. The applications are designed for maximum functionality, performance and productivity. The high cost of deploying and maintaining core users is counter-balanced by the productivity and performance that they gain by using native Windows interfaces.

• Occasional users usually can use a Browser interface. The interfaces are deployed dynamically and are limited to the range of interface functionality provided by technologies such as DHTML. The loss of some of the productivity and performance benefits that a native Windows interface would give to them is balanced by the much lower cost of deploying and maintaining them.