Program Categories

Now that I have defined what an application and a utility are and defined a program as software that can be either an application or a utility, I'll use these terms consistently throughout the rest of this book. Usually I'll use the term program, since most of the material applies to both applications and utilities.

While I'm at it, I'll define one more term, program category. I'll use program category to describe a group of programs considered together based upon their similar purpose, type, or audience. There are many program categories, such as:

• Business and professional programs
• Multimedia programs and programs designed for home users
• Internet sites and applets
• Games
• Children's programs

I've focused this book on the business and professional category. Some of the ideas I present don't apply to the other program categories. However, to make a daring generalization, I think you can usually treat programs in the other categories as utilities, with the exception that they are often run maximized and not in conjunction with other programs. The need for visible user interfaces targeted to beginning users is the primary reason they should be treated as utilities. Users run programs in these other program categories primarily for entertainment, and they aren't willing to make a significant effort to learn how to use them. Users use them because they want to, not because they have to.

I find it interesting that each of these program categories has a fundamentally different user interface style. Users expect a Web site to look like a Web site, a game to look like a game, and so on. A single user can move easily from one program category to another, easily adjusting his expectations to match the category. For example, a user would not expect a game or multimedia program to look like a business application. This difference in program category style results partly from the designers in each program category understanding that their users have alternatives. For example, the user of an online encyclopedia could easily perform the same activities using a printed encyclopedia, so the online encyclopedia's designers make sure that it has a visual appeal on a par with a printed encyclopedia.