Know Your Audience

Presented at Future Of Web Apps Tour, Leeds, May 2009

The idea presents itself, and its all hands on deck getting the app built. Most developers will spend some time thinking about the real needs of the target audience, and the best methods for fostering a community. But how can you be sure you truly understand what the audience needs, and how can you legislate for where the community might take your app.

Simon will present a number of proven methodologies for audience research, modeling and grouping - and discuss the impact the results can have on the development process. He'll also look at the importance of designers and developers working collaboratively within the process.

Transcript

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE THE ART OF COLLABORATION Simon Collison ERSKINE DESIGN
2. CASE STUDY THE VANILLA PAGES
3. Video clips removed for slideshow. Sorry folks...
4. RUBBISH! AND NOW WE’VE UPSET MOBY
8. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WON’T NECESSARILY COME
10. COLLABORATE RESEARCH PROCESS ORGANIC DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP PROTOTYPING TESTING LAUNCH ITERATE REPEAT {
11. ANYONE CAN ADD VALUE
12. ORGANIC, COLLABORATIVE PROCESS
13. AGILE / WATERFALL / SPRINT
14. AUDIENCE GROUPING AND ACTIONS
15. LOGO VISUAL THINKING (LVT) http://www.logovisual.com
21. PROJECT SPACE
22. RESPONSIBILITY TO THE COMMUNITY
23. Trust in the the website and information source. Brevity and swift delivery of information Retrieval of information and value very quickly. Understanding the context of the page and website. Looking for calls to action or next steps.
24. Domain name, branding and design. Integrity - verification through links and profile. Sources - evidence of findings. Volume - the more you write... Voice - what are you providing, and who is it for? Duration - match content to intended audience and subject. Custodians - about the authors and their experience.
25. FEATURES ROADMAP Parallels with good writing... Elmore Leonard tried to “leave out the parts that people skip” George Orwell called it “transparent writing” – or text that lets you see the subject without noticing the words that convey it.
26. CONVENTIONS AND THE ULTIMATE PACKAGE
28. <!— META —> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us" /> <meta name="description" content="" /> <meta name="author" content="Erskine Design" /> <meta name="Copyright" content="" /> <!— TITLE —> <title>Climb the mountains</title> <!— CSS —> <link href="assets/css/screen.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen" /> <!—[if IE 6]><link href="assets/css/screen-ie6.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen" /><![endif]—> <!—[if IE 7]><link href="assets/css/screen-ie7.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen" /><![endif]—> <!— JS —> <script type="text/javascript" src="assets/js/jquery-1.3.1.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="assets/js/onload.js"></script> <!—[if IE 6]><script type="text/javascript" src="assets/js/ie6.js"></script><! [endif]—> <!— RSS —> <!— FAVICON —> Railscast theme for Textmate: http://railscasts.com/about
29. /* CLIMB THE MOUNTAINS by ERSKINE DESIGN VERSION 1.0 CONTENTS ————— 1.BODY 2.DEFAULT STYLING 3.HEADINGS 4.LINKS 5.IMAGES 6.LAYOUT 7.BRANDING/MASTHEAD 8.NAVIGATION 9.SITE INFO AND FOOTER 10.GLOBAL ELEMENTS 10.1 CAPTIONED IMAGE 10.2 ELEVATION 11.HOMEPAGE 11.1 CONTENT PRIMARY 11.2 CONTENT SECONDARY 11.3 CONTENT TERTIARY */ @import url(reset.css); /* RESET CSS */ Railscast theme for Textmate: http://railscasts.com/about
30. /* 10.GLOBAL ELEMENTS ——————————————————————————————————— */ /* 10.1 CAPTIONED IMAGE —————— */ div.captioned_image { position:relative; } div.captioned_image p.caption { position:absolute; bottom:0; left:0; margin:0; background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5); color:#fff; font-size:13px; line-height:16px; font- style:italic; padding:5px; } /* 10.2 ELEVATIONS —————— */ div#route_elevation { background:#dff1f1; background-position:0 bottom; background- repeat:no-repeat; position:relative; } div#route_elevation ul { list-style:none; margin:0; font-size:9px; } div#route_elevation ul li { margin:0; position:absolute; } div#route_elevation ul li a { color:#333; display:block; background:url(../images/ site/elevation_marker.png) no-repeat 0 5px; padding:0 0 0 15px; } div#route_elevation ul li a:hover, div#route_elevation ul li a:focus { color:#000; } div#route_elevation ul li a img { display:none; } div#route_elevation ul li a:hover img, div#route_elevation ul li a:focus img { display:block; width:40px; height:40px; padding:4px 9px 10px 12px; position:absolute; top:-16px; right:-65px; background:url(../images/site/marker.png) no-repeat 0 0; } Railscast theme for Textmate: http://railscasts.com/about
31. A SINGLE FOCUSED DESIGN PATH
33. PROTOTYPE FEEDBACK
35. ANTICIPATE COMMUNITY USE AND MARKETING
36. Johnny Ball launches ‘Facebook for skills’ Reference to www.skillstories.org
37. Thanks Simon Collison erskinedesign.com colly.com @collylogic