My presentation given at the Association of Subscription Agents annual conference, Feb 2013.
It was titled Understanding how researchers and practitioners use STM information, but the specific theme was understanding how to design information products and services for researchs and practitioners against a background of information abundance (aka information overload).
6. Reading
studies go
back decades
e.g. average
numbers of readings
have increased
( Tenopir)
Source: Tenopir, C (2007). What does usage data tell us about our users? Online Information, London
7. Reading
studies go
back decades
& reading
behaviour varies
across disciplines
( Tenopir)
Source: Tenopir, C (2007). What does usage data tell us about our users? Online Information, London
8. So publishers can still lack
in-depth understanding of:
• how researchers use content
• how it integrates with other
information
• the context in which content used
• which articles were used, by whom,
where and when?
• or which parts of articles were used?
9. It may be even worse ...
Percentage of unique visitors that do not come from recognised
sources (known IP ranges, authenticated, or registered)
Geoff Bilder (2009) Brave Adventures: New Publishing Models for the Now World, SSP, Baltimore
10. Why was this?
• cost & complexity of finding out
• intermediation – libraries and agents
• less value in print world anyway
• but also, publishers may have thought
they understood enough
11. The wider information
ecosystem is complex
RIN (2009) Patterns of information use and exchange: case studies of researchers in the life sciences
12. Case studies can provide a fuller
understanding of differences
between disciplines
Humanities
Physical Sciences
RIN (2011) Collaborative yet independent: Information practices in the physical sciences
13. Large-scale surveys can provide
insight, especially if repeated
Inger/Gardner: How Readers Discover Content in Scholarly Journals (Renew, 2012)
http://www.renewtraining.com/How-Readers-Discover-Content-in-Scholarly-Journals-summary-edition.pdf
14. What's new
• lots of data!
• near-real-time data collection
• mobile devices = personal data
• point-of-care use & similar
• Big Data analytics
• altmetrics – using data to measure impact
• CRIS and research metrics/evaluation
• and coming up, distributed annotation
(Hypothes.is)
15. Deep log analysis (e.g.
CIBER) offers one approach
• what they actually do (online), not
what they say or wish they do. E.g.:
• very little time reading in the digital
environment
• Only 1–3 pages viewed & >50% of all
visitors never come back
• PDFs downloaded, but saved rather
than read offline
Source: Nicholas & Clark (2012) Reading in the digital environment. Learned Publishing doi: 10.1087/20120203
18. Information overload
may be a truism ...
depositphotos.com
Graph adapted from Gillam et al: The Healthcare Singularity and the Age of
Semantic Medicine. Chapter in The Fourth Paradigm (2009)
20. Information abundance
is a fact ... BUT
What keeps us awake at night is not
that all this information will cause us to
have a mental breakdown but that we
are not getting enough of the
information that we need
—David Weinberger [my emphasis]
21. Designing products for
info-overloaded users
• Data/Information pyramid: knowing-
by-reducing
• selective, or filtering out
• Better filters – filtering forward
• surfacing relevant information, at
the right time, in the right context
23. Workflow solutions
• Combining (filtered) content &
software tools, integrated with user
work/information environment
• Improved certainty and consistency
of decision making
• Enhanced of productivity
• Certainty in terms of compliance
depositphotos.com
24. Designing workflow
solutions: contextual enquiry
• Combines multiple methods, e.g.
• surveys
• cluster / conjoint analysis
• on-the-job observation
• Three minutes method (Thomson)
• 25–50 interviews per user
• behaviour 3 mins before/after using the
information / service
Harrington & Tjan 2008 Transforming Strategy One Customer at a Time, Harvard Business Review
25. User segmentation
• We ask editors: Do you know the profile of
specific users? Who are you targeting? The
CHOs? The Male Social Glue influencers?
We ask: who is more valuable? Which
segment?
• Our audience follows an 80-20 rule: 20% of
the audience is of high value to us. 80% cost
us more than the revenue they generate,
for example, if they watch many long
videos.
Source: Outsell (2010) eMedia Organization Part III: Analytics-Wired Content www.outsellinc.com
26. User segmentation: goals
• to identify differentiated segments
• clear identifiable differences
• representing real behaviour and/or
attitudinal differences
• allowing prediction of behaviour of
future users
27. User segmentation: goals
• to use data to identify differentiated
segments
• clear identifiable statistically
significant differences
• representing real behaviour and/or
attitudinal differences
• allowing statistically valid prediction
of behaviour of future users
28. User segmentation:
approach
• Large, detailed surveys
• Factor analysis ➜ correlated,
differentiating statements
• Cluster analysis ➜ possible
segmentations
• Test potential segmentations by
interviewing
30. What sort of questions might
we answer (or try to)?
• What are the different barriers potential
users face?
• Who are the potential customers for
possible new services?
• How do different market segments value
different features, and how might these be
grouped?
• What new products / services are missing
from out portfolios?
31. Why should we bother?
• If your market is experiencing
discontinuity
• If you lack clear value propositions
• If you rely too heavily on channel
segmentation
• If you sense that you face new
customer demands and competition
Harrington & Tjan 2008 Transforming Strategy One Customer at a Time, Harvard Business Review
32. Some conclusions
• Analytics capabilities are now a core
requirement
• Opportunities to borrow from B2C
• As content commoditises, new ways of
adding value become critical
• Content / Data are likely to be
distributed across the web ➜ open for
new entrants to create new services