EXPLORING AUDIENCES
For many people, the lockdown during the pandemic led to a newfound appreciation for the benefits of distance education. In fact, in some cases it was the catalyst for them to decide to pursue higher education online. And it posed a challenge to online universities: to find out what motivates students and how the message should be crafted to engage them.
UOC, the world's first online university, with over 25 years of history, tasked us with a qualitative research project based on in-depth interviews with individuals connected to the UOC universe, aiming to analyze their target audiences.
The goal was to better understand their audiences, their motivations, and the needs of their users, taking into account their expectations, in order to establish their journey and touchpoints with UOC on the web channel.
Based on this understanding of the audiences, the aim was to make content management more efficient, attract and retain students, and position themselves as a leading and pioneering university in eLearning.
Join us to discover how we helped UOC elevate their understanding of their audiences!
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
The first step in our process was to create a shared vision throughout the organization. We conducted a Vision Workshop with UOC professional and its top management, focused on rethinking the university’s portal.
This phase was crucial to establish which sections had the highest strategic impact for the product launch. Once the sections were identified, we pinpointed the user groups they were intended for.
As a result, we established the main objectives of the website, not only from the business needs but also understanding what users were demanding and which elements they valued most in their decision-making process, from the perspectives of different markets.
AUDIENCE STUDY
Our qualitative method did not consist of an exploratory investigation seeking the representativeness of the different types of users accessing the university's website, but rather aimed to uncover nuanced information. Its purpose was not to quantify the information but its quality.
During sessions with stakeholders, we defined existing hypotheses for each of the identified audiences regarding their current journey, as well as their needs at each stage.
Building upon these hypotheses, we defined the sample characteristics to tailor the recruitment, adapted to the type of information we aimed to obtain. We created moderation guides customized for each audience, serving as the foundation for the interviews.
RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
As a result of the interviews, we created different boards with insights for each interviewee, which served as the foundation for the synthesis. We condensed this synthesis into the Top Findings of each audience, including the needs and shortcomings of the current journey and the identified opportunities for improvement.
The gathering of distinct insights in each market, related to demanded content and specific needs, reinforces the idea of investing in research when establishing strategies in the markets where an organization aims to strengthen its position.
STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
The first step in our process was to create a shared vision throughout the organization. We conducted a Vision Workshop with UOC professional and its top management, focused on rethinking the university’s portal.
This phase was crucial to establish which sections had the highest strategic impact for the product launch. Once the sections were identified, we pinpointed the user groups they were intended for.
As a result, we established the main objectives of the website, not only from the business needs but also understanding what users were demanding and which elements they valued most in their decision-making process, from the perspectives of different markets.
AUDIENCE STUDY
Our qualitative method did not consist of an exploratory investigation seeking the representativeness of the different types of users accessing the university's website, but rather aimed to uncover nuanced information. Its purpose was not to quantify the information but its quality.
During sessions with stakeholders, we defined existing hypotheses for each of the identified audiences regarding their current journey, as well as their needs at each stage.
Building upon these hypotheses, we defined the sample characteristics to tailor the recruitment, adapted to the type of information we aimed to obtain. We created moderation guides customized for each audience, serving as the foundation for the interviews.
RESEARCH SYNTHESIS
As a result of the interviews, we created different boards with insights for each interviewee, which served as the foundation for the synthesis. We condensed this synthesis into the Top Findings of each audience, including the needs and shortcomings of the current journey and the identified opportunities for improvement.
The gathering of distinct insights in each market, related to demanded content and specific needs, reinforces the idea of investing in research when establishing strategies in the markets where an organization aims to strengthen its position.
RESEARCH IN NUMBERS
We interviewed 34 individuals from 4 different audiences in locations across Spain, Europe, and LATAM. We observed recurring patterns of behavior, motivations, and needs, and were able to identify the messages that needed to be conveyed to each audience of the UOC portal.
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KEY RESULT
The relationship between users and UOC is modeled over time