Not always a victim! On seeing users as active consumers

While the importance of designers and companies in developing and marketing new products has been discussed extensively in the product design literature, the role of people as consumers has received less attention – even though the consumers can induce a prominent effect on companies and designers through their consumption practices. In this article, we examine the importance for designers and companies of seeking to understand the unpredictability of (end) users as active consumers. Our intention is to illustrate that it is worthwhile to think anew about the consumers' role, since both the designers' and companies' perceptions are often focused on their own interpretation of this role than on reality.