Summary: Provides tips on how to analyze audience for user assistance, without direct access to customers. Asks how the advent of Web 2.0, related social media tools, and user-generated content, can help technical communicators have more direct contact, and beyond that, collaboration, with our primary and secondary audiences.

As a technical communicator, I do not often have direct access to my audience. Without a clear understanding of my audience, it’s more difficult to define the purpose of my deliverables, gauge the correct content level, and the best organizational strategy. If this is the case for you, here are some suggested ways to learn more about your audience:

• Working closely with the Product Manager, who often includes a definition of the product’s intended users in the product requirements.
• Asking the Product Manager about any anticipated documentation requirements, early on.
• Speaking with Marketing about customer demographics, segmentation attributes, expertise level, etc.
• Working closely with QA during the product’s development. As internal users, QA is the best initial customer surrogate and can help you anticipate your audience’s user assistance needs.
• Working closely with Technical Support representatives, who have first-hand knowledge of the customer’s frequently asked questions and troubleshooting issues.
• Include Sales Engineers and other Product Implementation Engineers in the review process, as they too, have first-hand knowledge of the customer, and are often champions for the technical documentation.
• After the documentation is released, directly calling your customers, asking for feedback on the documentation, or using a questionnairre to gain user feedback.
• Including an e-mail address in the documentation, so customers have a way to provide direct feedback to the documentation team.

What other ways do technical communicators traditionally learn more about the intended audiences for our documentation deliverables? What obstacles do we sometimes face gathering this type of information? Do you see the advent of Web 2.0, related social media tools, and user-generated content, as a way for technical communicators to finally have more direct contact, and beyond that, collaboration, with our primary and secondary audiences? Photo Credit, Intersection Consulting.

About This Blog: Copyright Information

Contacting the Author: Content for a Convergent World – Peg Mulligan’s Blog