Definition
A desire regarding the design of an interactive system that is stated by a user.
Notes:
- User wants can be collected in the context of use analysis. It is important for the acceptance of solutions that user wants are taken into account in the form of solution proposals, together with the user requirements for which the user wants are possible solutions. Nevertheless, user wants must not be the starting point when developing a solution.
- User wants are often formulated as requests (e.g. “I want a steak”). In contrast, user needs describe what a user needs (e.g. “a regulated protein balance”).
- The (subjective) user want is defined in contrast to the (objective) user need from the context of use.
- User wants are often stated by users in contextual interviews, whereas user needs are typically implicit and only found by the user requirements engineer through analysis of the context of use information and problem descriptions.
(CPUX-UR – Curriculum (Version 1.3, June 2016))
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