Re: audience analysis resources

[Keith Hood <klhra -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

I read that review and frankly, I'm a little confused. The review author talks about Part I of the book being about how to find out what the users *really* need. Here's a quote about what the book is about:

"...the authors' purpose is to introduce techniques of user and tasks analysis so that folks ranging from software designers to technical communicators can use them to inform their design activities. "

(I won't bother to ask how someone "informs" his design activities.)


Below are some excerpts from the review, about the things covered in the various chapters:

* the importance of understanding the characteristics of potential users, their tasks, and their environments. 
* the ways in which the users define themselves and their roles (e.g.,
jobs, tasks, and tools they use). 
* analysis of users' work that is to be supported by an application. 


So, this book is all about finding out what the users are *really* like and what kind of work they *really* do. It looks to me more like this is what I've always thought of as requirements analysis.

So, your opinions...Is this audience analysis supposed to be something separate from requirements analysis, or is one of them just an aspect of the other, or are they separate things that have some degree of overlap?



--- On Wed, 10/14/09, Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> wrote:

> From: Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>
> Subject: Re: audience analysis resources
> To: "Techwr-l" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 1:35 AM
> Mark Osborne recommended a book by
> JoAnn Hackos, "Standards for Online Communication." I
> haven't read this one but JoAnn collaborated with Ginny
> Redish on a later book, "User and Task Analysis for
> Interface Design". It's terrific, and I think you'll find it
> even more useful. Don't worry about the interface design
> part in the title; it's just as applicable to tech writing.
> 
> 
> TOC: 
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471178314/ref=ase_comtechservicesiA/107-3132147-2593368#reader
> 
> 
> A review: 
> http://bulletin.sigchi.org/1999/pdf/july/pubs 



      
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