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Online Journalism: Reporting and Publishing
Writing 166J
Th 6-9:45 p.m. Oakes 222 and 205
Spring 2001
5 credits
Instructor: Kevin Woodward
Email: kwoodward@yahoo.com or woodward@cats.ucsc.edu
Phone: 831.595.4518 (cell) or 831.459.4574 (UCSC office)
Office hours: Th 4:45-5:30 p.m. Kresge College, Room 216
Class website: www.cruzio.com/~kevinw/writing166j
Audience analysis
NOTE: The following information was taken from The Internet Writer's Handbook, by Martha C. Sammons, Allyn & Bacon, 2001.
Definition: One of the most important steps in writing a Web page is identifying your readers and the information they want. Readers include the target audience (the primary uses) and secondary audience (such as Web surfers). Identifying your target audience is a key step in designing a friendly site. The target audience affects your entire site. According to usability studies, most Web readers want information, are searching for something specific, and are in a hury.
Ask yourself the following questions:
General Information- Who is my audience?
- Will there be international readers?
- What is their age and gender?
- What are their job titles?
- What is their budget/spending?
- What are their hobbies/pastimes?
- What is their educational level?
- What is their reading level?
- What type of learning style do they prefer?
- What is their environment/workplace?
- Are they novices or experts?
- What is their educational level?
- Do they have prior knowledge & experience with the subject?
- What are their attitudes about the subject?
- Are they familiar with the terms?
- How much expertise do they have with computers?
- Are they accessing the Internet from home/work?
- What are the specifications of the following items they will use?
- Platform
- Operating system
- Browser
- Modem speed
- Bandwidth
- Monitor size & resolution
- How familiar are they with the Internet?
- How familiar are they with using a Web page: hyperlinks, searching, browsing, etc.?
- What are their goals and expectations about my Web pages?
- What do they want from my Web pages?
- Benefits
- Entertainment
- Information
- Solutions to problems
- Task performance
- Technical support
- What task are they trying to perform?
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- How frequently will they use the Web page?
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