Audience & Purpose
Audience & Purpose
Even the most impressive websites can fail if they have not been carefully designed to reach a particular audience and serve a particular purpose.
Audience
You must be clear on who your audience is before you begin the design process. Without a clear audience profile, your website is unlikely to achieve its purpose. You need to consider the following points:
- Age
- Gender
- Income (or Socio-economic status)
- Geographical location
- Interest group
- Cultural background
- Marital status
Purpose
You need to decide on your site’s overall purpose, a consideration which would be strongly related to the audience you are attemtping to reach. Examples of purpose include:
- To sell something
- To provide information
- To promote an idea or point-of-view
Discussion Examples
1. Website: The Fudge Factory
Audience
The exact profile of the audience is not immediately apparent. For a start, the website seems to appealing to a general online market presumably in Australia. Given that Margaret River is a popular destination for tourists, it is likely that the website is designed to appeal to people who have visited the the store or at least the area but live else where. However, the lack of clarity with regard to the audience (there are no images or graphics suggesting audience profile) draws attention to frequent reference to “wholesalers”. This is perhaps the main target audience. This conclusion is supported by the fact that products on offer are presented in long lists with scant attention being paid to differentiation of one product from the next. The general approach suggests that the company concerned prioritises large buk orders as opposed to small scale orders. For example, when clicking on the icon (on the home page) for lollies, the viewer has to scroll trough many pages to actually find where the lollies are listed. Only a very determined casual buyer would have the staying power to undertake such a search!
Purpose
The primary purpose of this website is to sell the products of the Margaret River Fudge Factory.
2. Website: Margaret River Chocolate Company
Audience
The website presents large scale and opulent images which strongly suggests an upmarket target audience. There is no specific reference to gender or age although the website would probably appeal to a more mature audience. Potential customers would either be resident in Perth or Margaret River or they could be tourists. The website includes a significant amount of text which reinforces the idea of a wealthier and more mature audience with education and interest levels that would incline them to read through at least some of the details available.
Purpose
To promote the Margaret River Chocolate Factory outlets in Perth and Margaret River and to advertise the various chocolate products on sale at the two outlets.
Conclusion
Jakob Nielsen a foremost expert on current trends in websites warns that the most people spend their time on somebody else’s website. You need to all you can to keep viewers on your website for as long as possible. Being clear on who the audience is and what the purpose of the website is will go a long way to keeping your viewers happy.