Exactly - I don't think any of us would be successful using a method like this.
Luckily most products don't have an audience of 300 million, but this is interesting regardless. :) Carol On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:42 AM, mark schraad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Will is correct, these are clusters. Clustering is what companies like > USAinfo and others offer as prepackaged market segments. The problem with > these market segments is that they are generic and are typically generated > by statistical analysis of socio, psycho and demo graphics. These three > groups of behaviors are excellent for understanding the how, when and where > of contact and communications with customers. They are not however suitable > as a substitute for design research. They are also not personae. In fact > they do not even make for very good archetypes. The first problem is that > they are aggregate. The best approach for a persona is a deep understanding > of one person that is similar to one of a larger market segments for your > product. The second is the complete lack of depth needed. > > We have had some good luck using cluster analysis (prizm and others) of our > user base within specific channels. Basically it helps us look at the > differences between different user groups. This is a far cry from having > deep understanding of user needs and wants. > > In general, clusters will give you good information for marketing to > specific customers groups. For designing products, you need different > groupings. You need user segments generated through analysis of 'desired > attributes'. Your product manager will call these features - the user > experience group will likely call these functionality of capabilities. > > Don't be fooled into thinking that 'marketing' data and clusters will give > you what you need to effectively design for users. The wrong research, used > for the wrong purpose can be worse than the lack of information. > > Mark > > > > > > On Oct 21, 2008, at 11:25 AM, Will Evans wrote: > > That sounds eerily similar to the old marketing >> lifestyle/behavioral/psychographics that main stream marketers have been >> using Claritas for - http://www.claritas.com and as some smart person, >> think >> it might have been in the book Groundswell, mentioned - that's for folks >> that want to shout into the cave and listen for the ecco, in otherwords, >> agencies that are good at defining a message, broadcasting (media >> placement), and then measuring results, which is the old politics - the >> new >> politics is represented by things like Obama's iPhone app (I am not >> stumping >> for him - just giving an example) - a platform of tools to empower people >> to >> talk with people - and that means less marketing, and more social media >> strategy - creating a platform that is Built for Conversation (the title >> of >> my upcoming talk). >> >> >> On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:07 AM, Carol Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> wrote: >> >> Here's another way voters are being categorized: >>> >>> The Christian Science Monitor identified 11 places across the US that >>> represent distinct types of voter communities. >>> >>> http://www.csmonitor.com/patchworknation/ >>> >>> They are Monied 'Burbs, Minority Central, Evangelical Epicenters, Tractor >>> Country, Campus and Careers, Immigration Nation, Industrial Metropolis, >>> Boom >>> Towns, Service Worker Centers, Emptying Nests, and Military Bastions. >>> >>> ------------------- >>> Carol J. Smith >>> Principal Consultant, Midwest Research, LLC >>> http://www.mw-research.com >>> >>> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/0/167/781 >>> ________________________________________________________________ >>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >>> To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>> Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >>> List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >>> List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> ~ will >> >> "Where you innovate, how you innovate, >> and what you innovate are design problems" >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> Will Evans | User Experience Architect >> tel: +1.617.281.1281 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> aim: semanticwill | gtalk: wkevans4 >> twitter: semanticwill | skype: semanticwill >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ________________________________________________________________ >> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! >> To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe >> List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines >> List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help >> > > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
