Modelling the End-user

Modelling the End-User means creating a profile of the target audience for the resource being developed. Unless the resource maintains the user's interest and involvement in meeting user needs, it cannot succeed. And being able to demonstrate that user needs are met provides essential performance indicators, critical to the evaluation process. Incorporating in a project plan methodological procedures to measure these performance indicators is also valuable in securing project funding by minimising the risk of failure (and many projects do fail! -- Mention, or link to piece based on, the paper Julius gave me about the software crisis.)

Successful design results from a sensitive approach to one's subject: trying to see things from the point of view of the end-user, taking into consideration their needs, expectations and motivations, and communicating in language appropriate to the target user(s). The problem is a complex one, made more difficult by the fact that different people learn best in different ways. If the designer proceeds with the aim of trying to make life simpler and easier for the end-user, even though that means extra design work, the result should be greater user motivation and more effective learning and use of the interactive system. There is an important need, then to accurately model or profile of the end-user, refining the model as the design process proceeds and feedback is obtained through the process of testing and evaluation.

Questions to be answered about the target audience which help in building a model of the user (or user profile) include the following.

• Age: what is the average age or age-range of anticipated users?
• Background: Is information available about the backgrounds of the user which might help in answering further questions?
• Interests: what are the interests of potential users.
• Skills: what are the background skills and level of knowledge of users regarding the proposed content of the resource?
• Media sophistication: what are the background skills and level of knowledge of users regarding the proposed medium -- multimedia and the use of computers?
• Special Needs: Does the user have any special needs which may affect the presentation of information, and any input-output resulting from user interactions?
• Site: Where is the resource to be used: home, classroom, workplace, public space?
• Contact Time: What is the expected contact time with the resource?
• Learning context: Is there to be only one type of end-user or will there be several? How will the system be used: by one user or by several users simultaneously? Is the resource to be used as a presentation device by a teacher/trainer, as an aid to group discussion, in single-user standalone mode, or across a network?
• Diagnostics: is diagnostic feedback about user performance desirable?
• Password protection: Are interactions by the user to be stored and monitored?
• Confidentiality: If interactions are to stored, is it likely that materials will be of a confidential variety and will this come under the provisions of the Data Protection Act?
• Distribution medium: will the materials be stored and accessed in standalone fashion or across a network?
• Support Materials: Is the resource to be used alongside other learning materials and, if it is, is its role supplementary or central to the learning experience?
• Will the needs of each user-type change over time, either as a result of interacting with the system or independently of the system?

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