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Research Analyst, Information Design, Nokia Networks
Why is it so hard to get technical communicators
to analyse their users? I beg pardon from all
those who do because I don't mean that nobody does
user analysis, but there are a lot of those who
don't. Is it because you don't know how to analyse
your users? There are many good books available
that can give you advice (for example, User and
Task Analysis for Interface Design by JoAnn Hackos
and Janice Redish), and you can also attend
courses to learn the basics. However, user
analysis is, in my opinion, learned by doing.
Naturally, you need the basic skills, but you
won't be good at user analysis unless you do it.
The first analysis will be the most difficult. And
user analysis is hard work, no mistake about that.
When I created templates for user profiles, I got
comments like "It will be difficult to find out
this information." My reply to that is: "Yes, that
is true. If filling out those templates would be
as easy as just typing in the information, we
would not need the templates because you would
know your users already and no analysis would be
needed."
My advice is to start with small exercises. Create
a user profile of yourself for a tool you are
using and get a feeling of what kind of
information you should include in the analysis.
Think about what the author of the tool's user
guide or help system should know about you to
write the information you need to use the tool.
The same kind of information probably applies as
well to the users of the products or services you
document.
Perhaps you would like to analyse your users, but
the effort and cost involved stop you. Is your
management not allowing you to spend money and
work hours to analyse your users? Have you talked
to them in the language they best understand: cost
savings, increased customer satisfaction, and so
on? Many companies are applying the Balanced
Scorecard approach to describe their business
goals, and you could use the same approach. (For
more information about the Balanced Scorecard, see
the book review in the February 2001 issue of Best
Practices or read the book, The Balanced
Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action by
Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton.)
Briefly, here are some points you should take into
account when applying the Balanced Scorecard for
user analysis.
Financial Perspective
- saving cost by not producing information that users don't need
- saving cost from decreased need for customer
support as a result of documentation that better
supports users
Customer Perspective
- increased customer satisfaction because the documentation matches the users' needs
- possibility to offer customized content because you know the different user segments
- customers work more efficiently because they don't have to take the time to find the
information or call your help desk
- customers get more uniform information from
different product lines because everyone has
the same idea about what customers are like
Process Perspective
- no more arguments between SMEs and writers on what the users actually need
- writers write more efficiently because they have
the user profiles helping them make decisions on
what to include and what kind of writing style
to use
- customer feedback can be analysed more
efficiently because you know the basis of your
decisions
Learning and Growth Perspective
- writers get to know the users of your products
and can use that knowledge in many other
places as well
- writers are more motivated because they know
that the information they produce is really
useful for the users
- writers are challenged to create more innovative
solutions because they see how the users
actually work and what would best suit their
information needs
User analysis is essential in creating good
information products. I think that even if the
profile you create for the first time is wrong, it
is still better than no profile at all. After all,
writing down the information in your head does not
make it worse. On the contrary, when you write the
information down and have others comment on it,
you will get valuable insight to correct the
profile or fill in the possible gaps. Having all
of the writers use the same profile is better than
having them use different profiles. It is easier
to analyse customer feedback and correct the
profiles. When your basic assumptions are
documented and used consistently, you can more
easily identify what is wrong.
So go and create user profiles. Start small and
build from there. Don't be afraid of making
mistakes. You learn as you get more experience.
References
JoAnn T. Hackos
Janice C. Redish
User and Task Analysis for Interface Design
1998, New York, NY
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ISBN 0-471-17831-4
Robert S. Kaplan
David P. Norton
The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action
1996, Boston, MA
Harvard Business School Press
ISBN 0-87584-651-3
This article is the personal opinion of the author
and does not necessarily reflect the opinion or
practice of Nokia Networks.
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