Infrastructure refers to underlying physical and digtal services that enable other things to function, for example, the rail network enables trains. Within UX design, understanding available infrastructure is crucial when assessing the technical context for envisaged products, especially if we are to avoid exacerbating the digital divide, for example, being aware that mobile signal may be patchy in rural areas, or that electrcity supply may be intermittent in the global south. One might also be in the position to design infrastructure, in which case the challenge is to envisage the many potential products and services that might be enabled or excluded by the design choices, and of course to justify these to whoever is paying!
Used in glossary entries: digital divide, global south, user experience design