Know your audience! This is drilled into our heads whether you are an instructional designer, technical writer, or content writer. However, we often forget about what our audience wants and needs because we get caught up in our own cleverness.
- We have a lot of information that is really interesting and want to share it all with the audience.
- We have a great new idea for a layout that is unique.
- We thought of an activity that is fun and educational.
That feeling of excitement over our brilliance is great, but we need to stop, step back, and evaluate our brilliant idea. Hold it up to your audience and ask the two important questions – Is it what the audience really wants? And do they need it?
Don’t forget your audience … ever.
The folks at eLearning Mind wrote an article on the importance of understanding your audience when developing gamification.