It may seem like little more than a small change in terminology but we are finding that clients appear to be far more interested in 'customer centred design' than they were in 'user centred design'. One reason might be that times have changed and there is growing evidence that failure to address the human aspects of systems is the major reason why IT fails to deliver business benefits . But I would argue that using the term 'customer' means more than simply changing the words to a familiar tune, it represents a fundamentally different relationship between IT provider and system user.
Users are often captive.
Providers forget the difference at their peril. Customers trust that the technology will work. Users have learned not to trust computers. Buying a computer is often like buying a washing machine to wash your shirts and then discovering that you need an extra attachment to wash socks. No customer would tolerate such a breach of trust.