We used this term to mean what the typical user will be trying to accomplish in the context of the work or task that brings them to buy and use the product in the first place. Terms like workflow, human computer interaction, ergonmics, and user centered design show up frequently in this conversation. There is a deep and rich discourse about this topic and how it influences the design of software and many other products. For a good overview you can peruse the Wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability.

For the CIC projects we’re working on I recommend we ask a few simple but powerful questions: What will our users be doing just before and just after they come to our website or experience our project? What will they be trying to accomplish once at our site? What will enhance the likelihood that we can get them to come back frequently and/or contribute to the conversation? By thinking about these questions from the user’s perspective I think you’ll find the answers to which features are abosolutely critical and which are nice to have will become more clear. Good Luck.