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The Strategic Content Alliance

The Strategic Content Alliance. SCA workshops: audience research theme. The Strategic Content Alliance. SCA Workshops Specialist theme: audience research. Dr Claire Davies . Curtis+Cartwright Consulting Ltd. The Strategic Content Alliance. Overview of this session

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The Strategic Content Alliance

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  1. The Strategic Content Alliance SCA workshops: audience research theme

  2. The Strategic Content Alliance SCA Workshops Specialist theme: audience research Dr Claire Davies Curtis+Cartwright Consulting Ltd www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  3. The Strategic Content Alliance Overview of this session • 1:00 – 1:10 Welcome, briefing and introductions • 1:10 – 1:20 Warm-up session • 1:20 – 1:50 Presentation: audience research in practice 1:50 – 2:10 Coffee • 2:10 – 3:10 Group scenario session • 3:10 - 3:30 Debrief of group session • 3:30 – 3:50 Review of the audience analysis guidance • 3:50 – 4:00 Round-up www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  4. The Strategic Content Alliance Initial briefing www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  5. The Strategic Content Alliance What is audience research? • The process of planning and conducting a programme of work to better understand audiences and audience behaviour • Online content, services and audiences add a new dimension to traditional audience research • Knowledge about your audiences can provide evidence to help you answer the following questions • What are the key audiences of your service/research? • How do your audiences use your digital content? • What is the relationship between your digital and non-digital services? • Are your services meeting your audiences needs? www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  6. The Strategic Content Alliance SCA guidance • The Guide to Researching Audiences • practical guidance for non-experts • the basic principles of audience research • real-world case studies • sector-specific briefings highlighting key issues and resources • visual tool • Available at the SCA blog www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  7. The Strategic Content Alliance What do WE want you to get out of this session? • This session has been designed to • Improve your understanding of audience research • Provide an opportunity to use the guidance • Get you thinking about how you could use audience research • Allow you to provide feedback on the SCA guidance • Hands-on session – please join in! www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  8. The Strategic Content Alliance What do YOU want you to get out of this session? • Warm-up activity • What do you want to get out of this session? • What do you want to know about your audiences? • How will knowledge about your audiences improve your service? • What are your main concerns about researching your audiences? • Use the wall space and your post-it-notes • Discuss with each other www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  9. The Strategic Content Alliance Main presentation www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  10. The Strategic Content Alliance Digital services • Driven by • Government policy • Huge investment • Rising expectations of the public • Potentially new audiences • Audiences are more remote • Coexistence is an interesting consideration www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  11. The Strategic Content Alliance Why might I want to research my audiences? • Knowledge about your audiences can be used to • develop a product or service • evaluate a service or project • demonstrate accountability to funders • inform business planning • support a bid for project funding • inform sustainability planning • ...and much more! www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  12. The Strategic Content Alliance Successful use of audience research Case study: redesign of the BBC iPlayer (2008) • BBC iPlayer • originally launched in 2007 • a service that lets you watch BBC television programmes from the last week over the internet • Redesign aim • to launch a version of iPlayer that integrated the delivery of on-demand TV and radio • The redesign relied on extensive user engagement • to test the design and usability of the new design of iPlayer • to check that existing users would not react negatively to the new design • to find out how perceptions of the design might affect audiences’ attitudes towards the BBC as an organisation and content provider in the 21st century digital world www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  13. The Strategic Content Alliance Successful use of audience research Case study: redesign of the BBC iPlayer (2008) • Key research methods • moderated ‘audience labs’ • in-depth individual interviews • Conclusions of the research • response to the design generally positive • modifications to address concerns and further enhance the benefits • Relaunch of iPlayer was successful • BBC continues to research its audiences • to monitor the success of the new iPlayer • to inform further service development www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  14. The Strategic Content Alliance The stages of audience research • The basic principles in the lifecycle • 1. Target audience: describe and define the target audience • 2. Plan: plan your research • 3. Research: collect the data • 4. Analyse: model your audience • 5. Apply: exploit the evidence • The principles are the same as for non-digital services, however • additional research techniques are available (eg web statistics) • there are potentially new audiences • how digital and non-digital services exist together is an interesting consideration www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  15. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 1. Describe and define the target audience • Knowing who you would like your audience to be is vital • You may have more than one distinct audience with different needs • Defining your target audience doesn’t need to be a difficult exercise • Picture an ideal audience member… • Theiroccupation, gender, interests, technological expertise… • …Start thinking about categories for audience segmentation • For example, your audience segments might be group-oriented • Students in full-time education • Members of local family and history societies • Leisure users www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  16. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 2. Plan your research • Set clear objectives for your research • What do you want to know about your audience? • Why do you want to know it? • Reach, uptake, quality and impact – what are your priorities? www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  17. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 2. Plan your research • Plan your research to meet your objectives • Quantitative, qualitative, ethnographic research? • do you need statistically valid conclusions? • are you more interested in exploring attitudes and motivations? • does your data need to be representative? • What methods are appropriate? • determined by the type of information you want about the audience • pragmatic considerations (eg available time and money) • common to combine methods • Don’t forget that investigating non-users is also important • Start by using informal knowledge about your audiences and other people’s research www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  18. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 3. Collect the data • In-house research or commission a research agency? • Most techniques can be adapted by non-specialists • Consider time, resources and available expertise • You can choose to outsource specific elements • Data collection methods • Focus groups • One-to-one interviews • Quantitative surveys • Web statistics • Web analytics • User observation techniques (ethnography) www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  19. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 4. Model the audience from your data • Analyse and interpret the data • Will be easier if the research was well planned and conducted • Techniques will depend on the type of data and purpose of the research • The data should provide evidence for any statements you make • The analysis should improve your understanding of your audience • address the specific research questions • build up a better understanding of the audience and their interactions with the service www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  20. The Strategic Content Alliance Step 5. Make use of the research • Evidence from audience research can help make informed decisions • Service development and audience development • What are the wider implications of the work? • Consider the conclusions of the research • Were the specific objectives met? • What lessons can be learned for future work? • Plan follow-up and future research! www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  21. The Strategic Content Alliance Key points • Audience research does not need to be perfect to be useful • Even a small audience research project is worthwhile • Audience research should be seen as an ongoing process • Understand your limitations (expertise, time and money) • Many techniques can be implemented quite cheaply or adapted to a shoestring budget • Commitment and support from senior management helps www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  22. The Strategic Content Alliance Group scenario session www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  23. The Strategic Content Alliance Session overview • Scenario • You have been appointed as a project manager at the SCA museum • The SCA museum provides an online collection of archived ephemera created 4 years ago • The funding body has asked for a review of this online collection and has development money available for enhancements • Activity • You have been asked to find out what your current users think of this service and how to develop it in the future • Work in groups of 3-4 people to design an approach • Presentation and discussion of your approaches at the end • No right or wrong answer • Start thinking about audience research in practice • Chance to use the guidance in anger www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  24. The Strategic Content Alliance Session overview • Think about… • What are your research objectives? • What information do you need to find out about your audiences? • What types of questions do you need to ask? • What methods will you use to collect this information? • What elements of the research will you outsource and what will you do yourself? • Timescales and costs • Use the information provided • Background to the service • Menu of options • SCA guidance www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  25. The Strategic Content Alliance Example… digitisation of museum collections • What are your research objectives? • To gather evidence to inform the prioritisation of spend on digitisation • What information do you need to find out about your audiences? • Who uses your current collections, and what for? Physical and digital.. • What other collections would they like to have access to digitally (from a select list)? • Who would use it? • What methods will you use to collect this information? • Available statistics (physical and online access) • Helpdesk information • Focus groups • Online survey www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  26. The Strategic Content Alliance Evaluation www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  27. The Strategic Content Alliance Please tell us what you think… • SCA guidance - use the walls and post-it-notes to leave feedback • Usefulness • Attractiveness • Legibility • Pitch • Further work • Today’s session – simple form on your desk • What did you get out of it? • Was it useful? How could it be improved? www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

  28. The Strategic Content Alliance Offline feedback • SCA Director • Stuart Dempster • s.dempster@jisc.ac.uk • SCA Programme Manager • Sarah Fahmy • s.fahmy@jisc.ac.uk www.jisc.ac.uk/contentalliance

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