Open standards & artifacts for accountable systems.

Glossary entry

Permanent link /glossary/user-burden-ratio

User Burden Ratio

Glossary entry in Measures & indicators. Definitions, checks, and evidence for User Burden Ratio.

Glossary index

Return to the glossary index.

Explore 13 glossary territories and search 211 terms from one place.

Browse the glossary

Quick takeaways

How much work a user must perform to correct or navigate system errors.

Definition

How much work a user must perform to correct or navigate system errors. This metric feeds directly into fair burden distribution.

Interpretation: UBR must be evaluated against the Evidence Burden Ceiling (documentation) plus time/steps caps (process).

Targets & breach behavior. Measurement window: weekly median; monthly p95. Target / floor / ceiling: target ≤ 10 minutes, ≤ 5 steps, ≤ 2 documents; floor ≤ 15 minutes, ≤ 8 steps; ceiling 20 minutes / 10 steps. Owner: Traceable Ownership (must have). Breach action: switch to burden inversion, offer staffed alternatives, or trigger safe pause. Public surface: receipt + time transparency + decision artifact showing burden caps.

Scope
G. Measures & indicators. Metrics that track moral performance across systems.
Genealogy
Ethotechnics uses User Burden Ratio to extend the g. measures & indicators vocabulary and connect governance, design, and policy teams.

Copy citation (APA/BibTeX)

Cite this glossary entry Formats: APA, MLA, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS

Version

v1.1.0

Last updated

Jan 9, 2026

DOI

Pending Zenodo deposit

APA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. (2026). User Burden Ratio. Ethotechnics glossary. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/user-burden-ratio

MLA

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "User Burden Ratio." Ethotechnics glossary, 2026, https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/user-burden-ratio.

Chicago

Ethotechnics Institute Research Team. "User Burden Ratio." Ethotechnics glossary. Jan 9, 2026. https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/user-burden-ratio.

BibTeX

@misc{glossary_user-burden-ratio,
  title={User Burden Ratio},
  author={Ethotechnics Institute Research Team},
  year={2026},
  howpublished={Ethotechnics glossary},
  url={https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/user-burden-ratio},
  version={v1.1.0}
}

RIS

TY  - WEB
TI  - User Burden Ratio
AU  - Ethotechnics Institute Research Team
PY  - 2026
UR  - https://ethotechnics.org/glossary/user-burden-ratio
ER  -

Scholarly metadata

Authorship

Contact: research@ethotechnics.org

Publication details

  • Published: Dec 3, 2025
  • Last updated: Jan 9, 2026
  • Version: v1.1.0
  • DOI: Pending Zenodo deposit

License: CC BY-SA 4.0

Credit Ethotechnics Institute, include the term title + version, and link to the glossary permalink.

Archive snapshot: Wayback capture

Changelog

  • v1.1.0 · 2026-01-09 — Expanded scholarly metadata, operational tests, and provenance notes.
  • v1.0.0 · 2025-12-03 — Initial glossary release with stable permalinks.