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Understanding Your Users' Perspective: A Multitasking Imperative
by Sam Werberg
No matter whom we serve at our particular library or research center, we don't often find ourselves in the position of being asked to provide the same exact information over and over again. In cases where this does happen though, we can find that having an understanding of both the perspective of our user and their end use of the information can let us approach each information request from a fresh perspective. The multitasking aspect comes, not from searching for different types of information or using different reference sources, but from understanding what is needed in each case and repurposing the information for our end users' specific needs. We become, depending on each situation, a news librarian, a competitive intelligence professional, a confidant, a corporate researcher, or whatever other role particularly suits our users' needs. On a day-to-day basis, this can keep our jobs fresh and interesting, and it certainly cannot hurt our long-term professional development.
At FIND/SVP, the company I work for, we take in multiple research requests each day from our clients at almost 2,000 companies across the US. We have as clients advertising firms, manufacturers, industry and trade associations, PR companies, retailers and more. On any given day, I may actually end up with multiple versions of the same question from several different clients. Every information deliverable we provide to each client must be unique and individual work, and each client's confidentiality must be completely respected. What makes the job truly interesting, and what is crucial to providing the highest service quality, is the ability to diagnose and understand the users' perspective and the purpose of their research.
Let's take as an example a request for background and profile information on a privately-held technology company, "SamTech." The person making this request and the end use or purpose of the information requested will define the task at hand. Just to give three specific examples, this request may come from a marketing executive, an IT executive, or a potential investor in the company. In each case, the requester not only brings their own background, industry knowledge and preconceptions to the research process, but they also bring their context-specific needs and concerns.
For the marketing executive, let's assume that they are part of an advertising agency trying to pitch an ad campaign to SamTech. We understand that this person is not going to have the same technical background as an IT executive, but at the same time we should not assume they are completely unfamiliar with the topic. We need to rely heavily here on our reference interviewing skills to determine the level of knowledge that the user brings to the situation.
Once we have determined the level of knowledge and industry awareness that our marketing executive brings to the situation, then we must determine what the most useful type of information will be for this person. This second part of the process is fundamentally tied into their end use of the information. In this case, the user is trying to pitch an ad account, or convince SamTech that they know best how to market the company's products to their intended target audience. This being the case, the most useful information will not be all of the specific technical details of the company's products or the company's complete financial history, but information on the company's past marketing initiatives and what their strengths and weaknesses are compared to their competitors. We will need to take on the role of the competitive intelligence professional, and we will also need to put ourselves in the shoes of this marketing executive, thinking about what can be said to the decision makers at SamTech to convince them that we know best how to market their product.
When our IT executive calls in asking for the same information, we need to switch gears and take the time to understand the differences in both the requester's perspective and their end use of the information. A typical mistake made in the information science and library professions involves treating all of our users the same and providing the same packaged answers to each user. If this is what people want, then we might as well pack up our profession and turn it over to the software folks. This is not what people want, though, and we need to understand that and respond appropriately.
Let's assume that our IT executive is asking for a background of SamTech because he is thinking of buying their product for his company and wants to make sure that they are reliable and have a good reputation. We first need to understand this person's technical expertise and whether or not he needs any specific information on SamTech's products. It is likely that he is well versed in his technical needs and understands what SamTech offers in their product line. He is more concerned with the long-term viability of this company and whether or not it will be around to support the product over its lifetime. This requester is also interested in the vendor's reputation among his IT peers, and in reviews or evaluations of their products and services.
Finally, we have the potential investor, which for the sake of this example we will say is coming from a venture capital background. This client actually has a perspective similar to our IT executive in that they are concerned with the long term viability of the company, but their concern comes from their direct investment in the company and not the purchase of the company's products. The venture capital investor may or may not have a good understanding of what the company actually does and how their products are used, and we should take the time to understand what it is they do know and what they still need to get up to speed on. Keeping in mind that venture capital investment can happen in a tight time frame, we will want to provide this user with the most relevant information in the shortest turn-around time possible. The due diligence that this user is undertaking will also need to include information on the company executives, which will not necessarily be needed by our IT or marketing clients.
All three users are asking us for what appears to be the same information -- company background on SamTech -- but their backgrounds, industry knowledge and end uses are quite different. Understanding each client's individual perspective and repurposing the information in the context of their specific needs will position us as critical links in the chain of information delivery. In order to be leaders in the information profession we need to be able to multitask, not just over time, but also throughout each day as we respond to our users' requests.
Sam Werberg is a Consultant in the Technology, Information and Communications Group at FIND/SVP, an innovative knowledge services company that offers a full suite of custom business intelligence, advisory, and consulting solutions to address clients' critical business issues.