What is "useware"

Useware is a generic term introduced in 1998 that denotes all hard- and software components of a technical system which serve its interactive use. The main idea of the term Useware is the focus of technical design according to human abilities and needs. The only promising method (Zuehlke, 2007) to design future technical products and systems is to understand human abilities and limitations and to focus the technology on these abilities and limitations.

Today Useware requires its own need for development which is partly higher than in the classical development fields (Zuehlke, 2004). Thus usability is increasingly recognized as a value-adding factor. Often the Useware of machines with similar or equal technical functions is the only characteristic that sets it apart (Zuehlke, 2002).