The New Zealand technology curriculum requires children to solve problems to meet people's needs. So who are these people? Are they the users of the product, people who are affected by the product or someone else? This article investigates the confusion and limitations that exists in the New Zealand curriculum about the terms society, community, consumer, user, and people and justifies the replacement of some of these designations with the term stakeholder. The author concludes by asserting that the term stakeholder should be used in the New Zealand technology curriculum since the term eliminates confusion over the multitude of terms currently in use and it helps to ensure consultation is not trivialized but rather is a key part of the process. (Contains 1 figure.)