understanding users dr max hammond 28 november 2013
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Understanding UsersDR MAX HAMMOND
28 NOVEMBER 2013
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Who am I? Dr Max Hammond
Independent consultant
Broad experience across education and research
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Audience research Planning and conducting a programme of work to better understand audiences and audience behaviour
Increasingly used in the public sector…
…but easy to do badly
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Audience research – why?
Understand why and how people will use your service (=better service)
Quantify demand (= better planning)
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Audience research – why?
Be clear at the outset about your intentions:◦ Monitor performance/meet targets?◦ Market segmentation/Develop user personas?
◦ Product development◦ Marketing◦ Product design
◦ Develop business case?◦ Manage service portfolio?
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MethodologyUNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES
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Research lifecycle
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
http://sca.jiscinvolve.org/wp/allpublications/audience-publications/
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Target audience Knowing who you would like your audience to be is vital
◦ You may have more than one distinct audience with different needs (segments)
Defining your target audience doesn’t need to be a difficult exercise
◦ The first stage is to sketch out the potential segments
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
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Types of market
Mass Market Niche Market Segmented
Multi-sidedDiversified
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Planning research
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
Why are you conducting research?
What do you need to know?
How will you find this out?
What will you do with the
information?
How does this change your world?
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What do you need to know?
What do you need to know about each potential segment?
Reach, uptake, quality, impact – what are your priorities?
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
WHO are they?
HOW do they reach our service?
WHY do they use our service?
WHO is not using our service?
DOES the service meet their needs
and expectations?
WHAT are the longer term effects
of the service?
WHY are they not using our service?
HAVE they ever used our service?
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Think and feel?
Say and do?
Hear? See?
Pain Gain
What really countsMajor preoccupationsWorries & aspirations
What friends sayWhat boss says
What influencers say
EnvironmentFriends
What the market offers
Attitude in publicAppearance
Behaviour toward others
FearsFrustrations
obstacles
Wants/needsMeasures of success
Source: Business Model Generation (Osterwalder & Pigneur)
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Planning research Quantitative, qualitative, ethnographic research?
Which methods are appropriate?
Start with informal knowledge about your audiences and existing research
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Collect data In-house research or commission a research agency?
Data collection methods◦ Desk research◦ Focus groups◦ One-to-one interviews◦ Quantitative surveys◦ Web statistics ◦ Web analytics◦ User observation techniques (ethnography)
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
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Analyse data Approach depends on which data you collected
Address the specific research questions you posed – and link answers to the data
Do the answers change your understanding of your audience?
Are your segments “right”? ◦ Do not be afraid to rethink everything
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
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Apply your findings So Now What?
◦ How does what you have discovered change your view of your product, or your market?
Consider the conduct of the research◦ Were the specific objectives met, and questions
answered? ◦ What lessons can be learned for future work?
Plan follow-up and future research!
Target audience
Plan
Research
Analyse
Apply
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Key points At least consider what you should do, as well as what you can
◦ Eg surveys of users are easy, but only tell you what current users think
Research does not have to be perfect to be useful◦ It’s for your benefit, not for academic publication
No single method will give you the full picture
Beware unsupported web analytics◦ Without financial value of transactions, understanding success is hard
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What’s next?
http://sca.jiscinvolve.org/wp/audience-publications/
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What’s next?
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http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/tidsr/welcome
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What’s next?
Marketing research: 658.801
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