1. Understanding Users DR MAX HAMMOND 28 NOVEMBER 2013

2. Who am I? Dr Max Hammond Independent consultant Broad experience across education and research 2 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

3. 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 3 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

4. Audience research – why? Understand why and how people will use your service (=better service) Quantify demand (= better planning) 4 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

5. 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? 5 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

6. Methodology UNDERSTANDING AUDIENCES 6 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

7. Research lifecycle http://sca.jiscinvolve.org/wp/allpublications/audience-publications/ 7 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

8. 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 8 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

9. Types of market Mass MarketNiche MarketSegmented Multi-sidedDiversified 9 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

10. Planning research 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? 10 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

11. What do you need to know? What do you need to know about each potential segment? Reach, uptake, quality, impact – what are your priorities? 11 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

12. Think and feel? Say and do? Hear? See? Pain Gain What really counts Major preoccupations Worries & aspirations What friends say What boss says What influencers say Environment Friends What the market offers Attitude in public Appearance Behaviour toward others Fears Frustrations obstacles Wants/needs Measures of success Source: Business Model Generation (Osterwalder & Pigneur) 12 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

13. Planning research Quantitative, qualitative, ethnographic research? Which methods are appropriate? Start with informal knowledge about your audiences and existing research 13 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

14. 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) 14 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

15. 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 15 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

16. 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! 16 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

17. 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 17 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

18. What’s next? http://sca.jiscinvolve.org/wp/audience-publications/ 18 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

19. What’s next? 28 Nov 2013DR. MAX HAMMOND 19 http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/tidsr/welcome

20. What’s next? Marketing research: 658.801 20 DR. MAX HAMMOND28 Nov 2013

21. Contact details Dr Max Hammond +49 173 578 2440 max@mh-strategy.eu 28 Nov 2013DR. MAX HAMMOND 21