What Are They Thinking?

An invaluable step that many people fail to do in Web site design is define the user. Most sites do not even take into consideration who will be using them. How can you design a site if you don't know who's going to be seeing it?

A clear, well-documented definition of your audience will help you develop a user experience that is appropriate for your clients. It will also help you understand how users will react to the site. A true audience definition consists of who the users are and their goals and objectives. Scenarios, or stories, are useful in visualizing the audience.

Brainstorm

The first step is to brainstorm a list of all the possible audiences to your site. Add as many audiences as you can think of to the list, and ask everyone in the firm if they have any additions. If the list gets too long, simply break it down into categories.

Say, for example, you are a personal injury firm. Audience members might include plaintiffs or defendants, seriously injured, not-so-seriously injured, worker’s compensation claimants, people who need an attorney right away, people who are unsure if they need an attorney, investigators, opposing counsel, competitors, and those  searching for different kinds of information. Are there more potential audiences than you expected?

Rank

Rank the importance of each audience on the list. Then write down what the most important needs and goals are for each audience member. Some of the needs and goals will overlap. Other's will be unique. If the audience with unique needs are your primary target, then your site should be directed to them.

Create the Scenario

Now you are ready for the next step, one of the most fun in the entire design process. Create scenarios about the users experiencing the site. You will be surprised by how this helps you visualize the site and its users. Scenarios are also useful in validating the site's design once it is finished: If the scenarios match up with the actual design of the site, you did something right.