Audience analysis

Encyclopedia : A : AU : AUD : Audience analysis

Audience Analysis is a task all technical writers need to perform early in a project.

The audience is often referred to as the end user, and all communications need to be targeted towards the defined audience. When defining an audience, factors that must be considered include:

Age
Education
Job function
Skills
Language
Culture
Background knowledge
Training
Needs and interests
Where the document will be read
How the document will be delivered (print, online, projection, PDA)
Why the document will be accessed (reference, training)
When the document will be accessed (work, home, travel)

The intended audience of a document is often referred to as the who, what, where, when, and why.

After considering all the known factors, a profile of the intended audience can be created, allowing writers to write in a manner that is understood by the intended audience.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.