Who are you?

The story of design thinking, pajamas and news-media

You could argue that you’re in this world to make the one-size-fits-all. Everybody needs information, right? But still, consider this: even if the news were pajamas, are people satisfied with a one-size-fits-all pajama or do they prefer the pajama that fits their body best? Compare that pajama with your news subject and ask yourself again: would you tell your story the same way to an 80-year-old woman as to a 15-year-old teenager? Exactly your audience is key and that’s why the teenager and grandmother don’t wear the same pajamas. Or experience news the same way.

We believe, understanding media no longer means talking about print versus digital or desktop versus mobile. How people behave is the new way of thinking about media in the digital world. It all starts with this simple but complex question: Who is your audience? We ask this question regularly in our training. A few answers we received from journalists and newsrooms we worked with:

“Everyone”

“The whole society”

“General public”

“Active readers”

“Every citizen in this city/region/country”

Our co-founder Nienke walked onto the stage of Latam Chequea blindfolded last week. Guided by one of the journalists from Chequeado she found her way to the stage. She asked her audience:

Many of the journalists present responded: ‘impersonal’, ‘ignored’, ‘disconnected’. Although Nienke had quite some knowledge and insights to share about design thinking and audience first, the distance created by the blindfold was not appreciated. Did she know what the people in front of her were doing? No. More and more research is proving that making human connections is essential to a healthy online relationship. Thriving platforms invest in just that: understanding their communities interest, needs, challenges and obstacles.

Sometimes we do think we know our audience. Most of the time that’s when people talk about the stereotypical news consumer: often we think of them either lazy or not so smart or attentive. Sounds familiar? And I’m honest, I’m guilty of it too. It’s in our nature to assume things. But how can you constructively inform people with complex stories and information every single day if you don’t understand them? Or think of them this way? How can you thrive in this world that is dominated by individualism and exclusivity when you actually don’t know them?

Moral of the story: it’s not online first, it’s audience first! Don’t start writing and don’t start engaging if you haven’t got a clue who you are doing it for. We have three tips to become the future-proof journalist your audience appreciates:

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