PBA Front-End Programming Website Targeting

Where do websites come from…?

Website Targeting All websites start with an idea! Wouldn’t it be great if people could find information about my company online…? Wouldn’t it be great if people could buy our products online…? Wouldn’t it be great to make a site so interes- ting that millions would visit it each day, and then earn millions on ads…?

Website Targeting Wouldn’t it be great if people could buy our products online…? Now you know enough, start working!! …and the deadline is in three weeks, btw!

Website Targeting Clearly, the idea itself is not enough From idea follows purpose (mission) Often close to the idea, but somewhat more specific The website should enable people to buy a broad selection of our products online, at the same prices as in our physical stores

Website Targeting Informa- tion Presentation Communication Sales

Website Targeting Information: – ”Hello, world” – Basic information about company/organisation – Contact information – One-way communication – Very static, rarely updated – ”Online business card” –

Website Targeting Presentation – Information, plus: – Presentation of products/services – Search function – Still one-way communication – Needs more frequent updates (Changes in prices, new products, …) – How are updates handled (CMS, Service,…)?

Website Targeting Communication – Presentation, plus – Possible to ask questions (and get answers) – FAQ, guides,… – Chat, , Social media,… – Two-way communication – Users expectations rise (fast response to questions, etc.)

Website Targeting Sales (web-shop) – Communication, plus – Online sales of products and services – Standard solutions exist (Templates, CMS) – Numerous examples

Website Targeting Informa- tion Presentation Communication Sales Some websites will not fit this model! Useful model for initial work on establishing purpose

Website Targeting Purpose established! The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Can be start designing now…?

Website Targeting The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience …and one year later, how will you know if the website was a success…?

Website Targeting The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Subjective!!!

Website Targeting The website should make it easy for our customers to buy a broad selection of our products online, while having a positive user experience Try to define objective goals instead!

Website Targeting ”Easy” It must be possible for 80 % of the users to complete an online purchase within 90 seconds, when starting from the landing page of our website

Website Targeting ”Broad selection” At least 90 % of all the items in the company product catalog must be available for purchase online

Website Targeting ”Positive user experience” At least 80 % of the users participating in a user survey must give the item ”overall user experience” a rating of 7 or more on a scale from 0 to 10. At most 5 % must give the item a rating of 3 or less.

Website Targeting Goals established, can we start working now? Remember Social Constructionism The Constructionist View: ”How you say something determines what the message is” Who are we talking to…?

Website Targeting Defining a Target Audience

Website Targeting Purpose and target audience will often – but not always – be rather closely related Ideally, everybody should like our website! In practice, only certain specific groups will be appealed to by our product, message, form of expression, etc. Who are they…?

Website Targeting How can you characterise a certain Target Audience? – Geography – Demography – Psychography – Level of competence

Website Targeting Geography – Local/regional/national/ international – Urban/suburban/rural – Climate – Workplace/home

Website Targeting Demography – Age – Gender – Civil status (single, married,…) – Occupation – Education – Income level – Ethniticity – …

Website Targeting Psychography – Interests – Behaviour – Beliefs – Values – Culture/Subculture

Website Targeting Level of competence (with regards to Web usage) – Novice – Casual – Intermediate – Expert

Website Targeting Why is this relevant – what can the practical consequences be? Imagine these target audiences: – Children age 5-8 – Senior citizens, age 60+ – Adults (age 18-60), elementary education What is the influence on our design decisions?

Website Targeting