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The Keys to Building Software for Multiple Audiences

Most businesses don’t have just one audience; and that’s how they’re able to maintain a consistent stream of customers. The challenge, however, is finding the right balance to keep everyone happy.

That balancing act is never more evident than in the design and build of software that serves multiple audiences.

Is it possible to develop an application that caters for the various needs of different people? The answer is yes; it’s not easy, but it’s definitely possible.

 

Identify Your Goals

Before you concern yourself with the different needs of your software’s audiences you must first consider your own needs. At the outset of the project decide exactly what your company wants to achieve with the software.

Are you looking to better service existing customers? Increase your usership? Generate more revenue?

Once you’ve decided exactly what your goals are you can start to take your audiences into consideration.

 

Do Your Research

You’re probably already familiar with your company’s different audiences but there’s no room for error, so research is vital.

First, categorise your audiences. You can do this based on many factors but here are a few examples:

  • Customers or trade clients.
  • How many times they’ve purchased your product.
  • Which industry they work in.
  • How much money, on average, they commit to your company.
  • Demographics, such as their age, gender, or location.

Then, with your audiences defined, carry out the necessary research to understand what they want and need from your software, and how they differ from one another. You can do this through interviews, surveys, or even real user monitoring.

 

Prioritise the Audiences

It’s not always possible to be all things to all people and you may have to make sacrifices in some areas. To ensure they’re concessions worth making, you should prioritise your audiences and their needs.

The aim is to make it possible for all your audiences to accomplish their goals. Yet, by focusing first on the most important needs of your primary audience you can cover the essentials before widening the scope of the application to provide solutions for everyone.

 

Sofia: Built for Staff and Students

Recently, the Isotoma team worked with Imperial College School of Medicine on the design and build of a bespoke curriculum mapping tool called Sofia. While the need for Sofia arose from a need for Imperial to demonstrate that their curriculum met the General Medical Council standards we saw an opportunity.

Sofia would not just be used by staff at Imperial, but also the university’s medical students. During the build we made Sofia into a two-way street, providing staff and students with different access points and functionality.

Now Sofia has been rolled out across all six years of Imperial’s medical course and has proved popular with staff and students alike; the payoff for taking the time to understand the needs of Sofia’s two audiences.

 

Satisfy Your Audiences

Pleasing everyone is not easy but it can be done. If you need a new application that has to satisfy the needs of multiple audiences we’d like to help you build it.

To discover how the Isotoma team will bring your vision to life, get in touch with us today.