The process of designing a system around the users needs and goals.

A process that focuses on the design of offerings to meet user expectations

Application design that considers the needs of the end user as paramount. In CBT/WBT design, user-centered means designing for maximum instructional effectiveness and usability while allowing the end user control over the learning process.

A broad term summarizing design and development techniques that involve actual end-users as early and often as possible.

An approach or philosophy that emphasizes early and continuous involvement of users in the design and evaluation process.

In broad terms, user-centered design (UCD) is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of an interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. User-centered design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem solving process that not only requires designers to analyze and foresee how users are likely to use an interface, but to test the validity of their assumptions with regards to user behaviour in real world tests with actual users. Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for the designers of an interface to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design experiences, and what each user's learning curve may look like.