Conducting an audience analysis

From TechWriter Wiki

Introduction

There is no substitute for the writer of a communication having direct interaction with the recipient of that communication.

Ideally, the writers should have the opportunity to interview the recipient (typically a user of a product, application, or process) in person, and also to observe the users in their working environment. Should this not be possible, then there are a number of other ways of obtaining information directly from the users themselves. This section describes these alternatives.

Direct contact with the users

Questionnaires and surveys

Questionnaires distributed as unsolicited mail-shots typically have a very poor rate of return. It is therefore preferable to target questionnaires or surveys at specific individuals, or departments. Ideally, the questionnaire should be distributed in person, and collected in person, if not completed in person as a part of an interview.

See Sample Audience Analysis Questionnaire.

Telephone interviews

If it is not possible to send a questionnaire out to individuals, then it may be possible to survey (a selective sample of) the users via telephone surveys. However, many people dislike this kind of 'intrusion' and may be indisposed toward helping from the outset. To overcome this, consider providing a 'pre-warning' that a survey will be conducted, for example via a notice on the company notice board, or an announcement via e-mail.

Visits by customers

Any visits that the potential users of the product make to the product development location - for example, for demonstrations, training, etc. - should be considered opportunities for obtaining information from the users. Users are unlikely to view a request to complete a one-page questionnaire during a training course as an imposition or inconvenience. Furthermore, as they are away from their own workplace, they are less likely to find an excuse for putting off completing the questionnaire - they are effectively a captive audience!

Visits to customers

As with visits by customers, any visit by the communications staff to a customer location should be considered opportunities for audience analysis. If the communications staff is conducting training, or making a fact-finding mission, they should consider taking a stack of questionnaire forms that they can leave with the users for the users to complete. Even if it is too late to use the results in the documentation for the current product (or release) the information will be useful for subsequent documentation work.

Other sources of information

If it is not possible to perform a specific audience analysis for communications requirements, it may still be possible to obtain some more general information about the proposed audience.

Internal organizations

The company may have already performed some form of audience analysis or investigation already. For example, a market survey may have been conducted before product design started, requirements gathering activities may have involved (prospective) user interviews, and so on. To the extent that this information is factual and specific, it will be useful in building a profile of the audience of the communication. However, it should be borne in mind that this data was gathered with a different purpose to that of the Technical Communicator. Communications staff will have their own questions to ask and perspectives to gain that may not be covered by these parties. Information gathered from other internal organizational resources should therefore be checked for applicability to communications before being accepted.

A company's Human Resources department may prove to be a good source of information on the audience. They may be able to provide hiring requirements for various job levels, and also age, nationality and education statistics on employees. In some cases, Human Resources may also retain records of training courses (both internal and external) attended by employees, which could help in determining the technical knowledge level of the audience.

User support groups are also a useful source of information about users of existing products or documentation. For example, a Help Desk will have a history of first-hand communication with the users of the system; they may well have a workable profile of the intended audience. However, it is important to recognize that the opinions of the support organization are just that - opinions, and not facts. Also, bear in mind that users who contact the Help Desk are already having problems, and therefore may not form a representative sample of the overall user base.

External resources

Depending on the type of product being documented, it may be possible to obtain information on the target audience from external organizations. Market research companies specialize in building profiles of consumers according to various criteria - for example, the level of home computer ownership by age group, or by educational level, and so on.

Similarly, professional organizations may be able to provide information on their membership, and trade publications information on their readership. Suppose you are documenting software-testing equipment - the Society for Software-Testing Engineers may be able to provide a useful summary of their member's age, educational level, and nationality.