In this work we develop the concept of the 'typical' industrial ellipsometry user, discussing his/her needs and skills, compared to the scholarly user. Following this, we will give examples of industrial problems where spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) was used to obtain the end result. Included will be an example of designing material with chosen optical constants, an example of measuring the thickness of thin metal films, and methods development for measuring a polymer/bio film on a glass substrate. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.