STIKI
a tool for developing audience strategy
PROJECT INFORMATION
type of work: research | concept development | interaction & interface design
client: one of the outputs from my research at Moving Targets
industry: creative media industries | knowledge exchange
dates: Dec 2010 - Mar 2014
Concept development (Dec 2011 - Jan 2012) | Testing (Jan -June 2012) | Digitisation (June 2012 - Mar 2014)
extent of the project: development in parallel with other project activities
CONTEXT | PROBLEM
Stiki
a tool for media companies to develop their audience strategy
Media content is often seen as bounded to the creators’ vision and creativity. As a consequence, media companies rarely thought about their end-users until they reached marketing and distribution stages and usually struggled to identify who would consume or buy their products. Furthermore, their lack of understanding of their audiences harmed the quality of their products and users’ experiences.
SOLUTION | OUTPUT
Our research and design consultancy showed that media creators benefited from design’s holistic and user-centred perspective to inform product development and strategy. While user research for concept and product development did not always appeal to our industry partners, audience engagement strategy did. The purpose of Stiki was to bring some of those design elements into media companies’ practice.
The tool helped content creators to device their audience engagement strategy while examining users’ experiences and interactions with their content, testing their assumptions about their audiences, and considering the operations behind interactions.
In essence, STIKI is a method for blueprinting audience strategy; which takes media creators through ideation and planning and includes different card-sets to prompt consideration of relevant aspects, such as mechanisms for involvement, back-end operations, stages and emotions of the user experience.
IMPACT | WHAT PEOPLE SAID
The paper tool was very successful among our industry partners, who found value in working visually in a structured manner.
“Open enough for creativity but guidelines for productivity.”
workshop participant
feedback questionnaire
Jan 2012
“I think this tool is great for ANY creative/entrepreneurial planning. Structures ideas in a time flow. Focuses on users experience + activities. Easy to apply to a variety of ideas.”
workshop participant
feedback questionnaire
Jan 2012
The BBC showed their interest in having access to a digital version of the tool, and there were discussions on its potential monetisation. Whether and how to do so was longly debated in the Moving Targets team. The main options considered for further development were: (1) a polished version of the card-based tool; (2) an application for an interactive table held at Abertay University; and (3) a web-based service.
They all had advantages and disadvantages. We eventually opted for the latter because companies working in more rural areas of Scotland often were not co-located. Having the tool as a web-based service would allow these teams to work from different locations. However, this compromised the value gained by having a cross-functional team gathered around a table thinking together. Regarding monetisation, we chose to make it freely available online.
In hindsight, this was not the right choice, since as soon as the project funding run out, the web-service stopped being available. Perhaps monetising the service, having it as an asset at Abertay, or giving the card-based tool to industry partners would have increased its impact and sustainability.
INSIGHT INTO THE PROCESS
Concept development
I sought to create a tool that allowed media creators to take a service design perspective (holistic and user-centric) in a way that was appealing to them - dressed as audience engagement.
Its development combined my research on emerging models for audience engagement in the digital era; insights from my ethnographic & practice-based research with project partners; and my knowledge of design methods. I developed different ideas and tested these with Moving Targets colleagues.
In service design terms, the tool combines user journeying with a soft touch of blueprinting; and it includes prompt cards to help media creators think of creative ways to engage with and involve their audiences at different stages of content creation and distribution.
Testing and Refinement
Once I had a prototype, I worked directly with industry partners to improve and refine the method:
Focused sessions: these were heavily facilitated sessions, where I worked closely with industry partners to develop their audience strategy blueprint. Whenever possible, these sessions were filmed for further analysis.
Training sessions: these sessions gathered multiple teams, often working in the same sector. These sessions were particularly helpful to understand the kind of information needed by creators to use the method without design facilitation.
The observations and feedback collected triggered the addition of new sets of card-sets, as well as changes in existing cards and the process followed.
Digitisation
To deliver the digital prototype, I worked closely with MT colleague and HCI designer Dr Dima and liaised with software and web developers. The digital version included a new set of cards to incorporate Dr Dima’s research into intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for audience engagement.
We worked together to determine the required detailed documentation with the web-contents and interface specifications. I focused on a screen-by-screen visualisation of layout and functionality, and Dima focused on aesthetical considerations. We also worked together to develop the script and footage for the teaser video.
The project got a six-month extension to finalise the digital prototype. As I had already started my PhD, the project continued to be supervised by the MT team.
Challenges
Building my input as designer into the tool
Learning to use the tool and design’s questioning of assumptions had to be an integral part of the method and interface design. To this end, the website included a movie explaining how to use the tool, step-by-step examples, a user guide, and templates of other relevant design methods, such as user personas and journeys. Digital cards also included descriptions and related questions.
Skill development
This project allowed me to work on and lead a project through research and ideation; prototyping, testing, and refinement; and implementation.
I learnt to (1) adapt my design practice to different contexts and sectors; (2) observe interactions and iterate my design in response to feedback; and (3) work with and produce detailed documentation for developers to transform a tangible asset into a functioning digital service.