Meet Your Customers More than Halfway: Anticipate Their Circumstances of Use
(Part 1)
by Adele Sommers, Ph.D.

As you can probably imagine, providing value to customers doesn’t occur by accident.

It results, to a large extent, from carefully considering the conditions or circumstances under which people might want — or need — to use what you have to offer.

You might assume that all you need to do is choose the types of products and services you want to develop, and then figure out which features should go into each offering. But will you also make every effort to research or predict how buyers might attempt to use them under both usual and unusual circumstances?

Usual circumstances involve the range of normal or routine modes of consuming your offerings. Unusual circumstances entail the abnormal, non-routine, or even extreme conditions under which people might interact with your products or services.

Anticipating a full range of circumstances will help you create far better routine user experiences, while avoiding the risks of overlooking any non-routine situations. Whether you’re creating a basic “how-to” guide on time management or developing a complex business software system, this article (Part 1 in a series) suggests what to consider on the routine end of the spectrum to help you design highly consumable offerings.

What Are Some Routine Circumstances of Use?

Routine circumstances can take many forms, depending on the manner in which people happen to be functioning at any given moment. Wouldn’t you agree that your audiences need to have convenient ways of consuming your products and services in many types of situations?

On the surface, this idea seems pretty straightforward. But what does convenience really mean in the world today? Isn’t it empowering people to learn or do something at any time of day or night, in any mode they wish, such as:

• At home or in one’s personal life (e.g., sitting at a computer or entertainment center, while doing chores, during quiet time, or relaxing with family or friends)

• In the office or in one’s professional life (e.g., sitting at a computer, meeting informally with others, giving a presentation, or planning a training program)

• At school or in a similar learning situation (e.g., sitting in a computer lab, holding a class discussion, participating in a training session, or completing assignments)

• Traveling (e.g., by foot, in a car, or on a train, subway, bus, plane, or van)

• Exercising (e.g., when walking the dog or bicycling, jogging, or using various types of exercise equipment)

How Many Ways Can You Accommodate Routine Circumstances?

Each one of the preceding modes or circumstances has an accompanying set of opportunities and limitations. If you take the time to research (or at least imagine) how and when your customers might wish to consume your offerings, you might decide that there are several possibilities to consider. If your offerings embody information, for example, below are several ideas for packaging that information to provide a variety of routine consumption opportunities:

• Printed (or printable) materials work well for people whose learningpreference is visual, or who prefer, or need, to read away from a computer, such as passengers during a commute. These also include workbooks and other tools for recording ideas. Although printed materials have the great advantage of being portable, they do not work well for people doing chores, driving, or exercising with many types of equipment.

• Digital text and images, such as in e-books, work well for people whose learning preference is visual; who like to read using a computer, laptop, or e-book reader; or who use digital text-to-speech readers to consume information. Digital text does not work well for people for whom screen resolution presents a problem (because it’s much less crisp than printed material), or who can’t devote enough time to staring at a non-portable screen when that’s the only digital reading device they have.

• Digital audio, such as on CDs/DVDs or in downloadable audio files, work well for people whose learning preference is auditory, or who don’t want to devote their full attention to viewing a screen. Audio is particularly ideal for people in transit, exercising, or doing chores who wish to take advantage of their “unproductive time.” Depending on the format, audio can play on a computer or laptop, home stereo, CD/DVD player, or other portable player, such as an iPod.

  Other advantages of audio include the fact that people generally can consume it more easily than they can printed materials, as casual listening typically requires less focused effort than reading.

Because audio and visual inputs are processed through separate channels in the brain, it gives “multi-taskers” like me a means by which to listen to background audio while I do other things in my office. Audio also offers a way to infuse self-paced tutorials with multiple sources of information, assuming that intended learners have speakers or other listening devices available.

• Digital video works well for people who prefer watching to reading, or with any subject matter that involves compelling animation or audio-visual subject matter. Depending on the format, videos can play on a computer or laptop, DVD player, or a home entertainment center.

In conclusion, because our audiences’ busy lives often involve so many modes of operation, choosing the best medium and delivery method may seem daunting. But rather than trying to narrow down to just one choice, consider how many different ways you can support your customers’ circumstances of use.

By packaging the components of your products in complementary formats, you can help your customers consume what you offer in any mode they choose. You’ll also provide more value than your competitors will by giving your audiences more convenient ways to learn or do what they’ve turned to your offerings to receive.

To download the related checklist, click here.

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About the Author

Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is author of “Straight Talk on Boosting Business Performance: 12 Ways to Profit from Hidden Potential.” To learn more about her book and sign up for more free tips like these, visit her site at www.LearnShareProsper.com

This article may be distributed freely on your Web site, as long as this entire article, including the links and full “About the Author” section, are unchanged. Please send a copy of, or link to, your “reprint” to Adele@LearnShareProsper.com.

Copyright 2006 Adele Sommers, The Enterprise Prosperity Guild, All Rights Reserved.

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