Targeting intended audiences

There are different approaches you can take to engaging your audience - not just for feedback on what already exists but perhaps also for new ideas and suggestions.

Methodologies

• Focus groups with data users to discuss responses to your data publication or service. This gives you a starting point to work from when learning about your audience on a deeper level — if you already have some understanding of the real pain points and challenges they experience and what they need from your product or service. Risks: can be anecdotal (one person's experience may not be typical of others); small group may not be representative of typical audience. There a many online step-by-step guides to conducting focus groups.

• Surveys can generate a substantial amount of quantitative data about what your audience have experienced and how they might rate, or rate specific aspects of, a data publication: ease of access, applicability, timeliness etc. Surveys are also great because you can elect to make them anonymous, which often incentivises participants to be completely honest — meaning, you get the real data and results that matter. Risks: short simple questions provide quantitative data giving you an idea of volume or frequency but don't always help you understand motivations and rationale. Multiple choice and open text responses can give meaningful insight into motivations but they are more time-consuming to analyse. Surveys also rely collecting an adequate number of responses. Consider how to improve survey response rates.

• Direct emails are a low cost option with minimal resources required. Risks: assumes healthy response rate, though this is typically unlikely.

• Discussion boards which give multiple users the opportunity to engage on your platform can help generate interest in your data, stimulate innovation and encourage peer learning. Risks: this assumes that interested parties engage with others on the discussion board, and may need managing and monitoring.

• Feedback options online can enable and encourage data users to respond in real time with questions or comments. This is good for capturing basic data users problems through a standard comments box or direct link to an email address. Risks: there needs to be a timely response to any comments or questions to instil confidence that you are listening to your audience.

• Talking to other publishers is a great way to network with peers, share ways of working and bounce ideas off each other.