Comments on: Understanding our Audience (Part 1) – Drupal7 UX Project

By: Michael Prasuhn

Michael Prasuhn — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 00:16:43 +0000

I think it’s kinda funny that the first item up is End User, Blog, 1 user. Most folks will admit that is the one area where Wordpress is leading the way, and not the direction we need to take Drupal (to compete with Wordpress).

By: vanderwal

vanderwal — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:57:40 +0000

I really like what you have ended up with! I have been using a matrix with depth of use and face of perception (user mindset), but have battled how to work through & represent the various elements important with the pairings in each of the cells in the matrix.

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing.

By: pips1

pips1 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 10:48:30 +0000

I like your “dress me up doll” approach.

I couldn’t help to notice the similarity to the ‘user stories’ approach we use in agile development:

“As [role] I can [functionality] so that [reason]“

By: Gidget

Gidget — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:52:33 +0000

I really think a “typical” website needs to be included on that list, much like the first commentor mentioned. The world has become very blogcentric in it’s thinking, but the sites we build day in and day out have news, events, blogs, staff directories, featured content, promotions, etc, and that is actually the biggest challenge with Drupal. You can do all those things and do them well, but chasing down the bits, configuring, is um, a suboptimal experience.

By: sun

sun — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:28:30 +0000

@Lee:
“Site builder”: Some killer modules (CCK + Views + Panels + Flag + Actions) emerged a new world and audience in a CMS. We replaced the webmaster already; those modules replace the person who implemented easy business-logic and customization, the “site builder”.

I’m glad you identified more audiences than “user + administrator”. This is why I am strongly opposed to http://drupal.org/node/273137, and instead, proposed a total menu revamp here: http://groups.drupal.org/node/19171

By: Lee

Lee — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:48:30 +0000

Congratulations for making the distinction between site builder and site administrator. In the Drupal world they often get lumped together but they are really two completely different functions.

However, I’m still a little unclear on what you consider a “site builder”. Does that include themer and developer? In my mind, these three – builder, themer and developer – are distinct and separate roles.

By: nadavoid

nadavoid — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:39:34 +0000

I really like that 3-facet selector. I’m not sure if this ends up being relevant, but one factor to include might be the amount of content. A news site that posts 2 articles a day has different needs than one one that posts 150 articles per day. Maybe this is addressed well enough by number of users, and maybe it will be addressed well enough by how items are managed by default. But in any case, it might be worthwhile to consider the volume of content being managed in these scenarios.

Thank you so much for thinking through these things so thoroughly. I am thrilled to see this work being done so thoughtfully.

By: Livia Labate

Livia Labate — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:37:01 +0000

By the way, as someone evaluating Drupal for possible use in an organization with various teams with different needs, I love the segments you identified. It actually helps me even think of the problem in a more simplified way.

By: James Broad

James Broad — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:33:50 +0000

Great work guys, really like the final outcome, seems so simple and logical.

By: Livia Labate

Livia Labate — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:31:36 +0000

Very interesting! Q: What did you decide to leave out? HOW did you decided which attributes were not important to shape the audience segments?