We’ve all been there – you need to do user research, but don’t have lots of budget or time. Spending endless hours delving into every nuance of your audiences’ needs and behaviors isn’t an option. Let’s face it, you’re not a research scientist. You’re a consultant, working on tight budgets and timeline. You need tools that provide insight but that are also straightforward and practical. With that said, I give you…KFFA! Or, for the less acronym savvy: Know, Feel, Find, Act.

Tell me how you feel, really

What is KFFA, you might ask? It simple. It’s a template to frame a conversation and elicit feedback about what your audience needs to Know, Feel, Find, and Act. Ok, I also hate when people use the words to define the thing itself, so instead let’s take a look at each:

KNOW: What do you want them (audience) to know about you (organization)?

This is basically asking your stakeholders to tell you what their value proposition is, right? It could also uncover many other things that audiences should know, but that may not ever bubble to the surface. Practically, this translates into top-level messaging for your site.

FEEL: How do you want them to feel about you?

These responses tend to be adjectives. We’re “trustworthy, so they should feel at ease with us.” Practically, this translates into moodboards and visual design.

FIND: What are they looking for?

Here, we’re asking our stakeholders to tell us what they think their audiences need. This could be actual content, such as “fact sheets about projects,” or it could be something less concrete, such as “information about how cost-effective we are.” Practically, this translates into content strategy, information architecture, and design.

ACT: What do you want them to do?

This is really the bottom line, or close to it. Here, we’re asking stakeholders to tell us what they want their audiences to do. Some of the responses are obvious big conversions, like “donate money.” Some are less obvious more micro-conversions, like “reach out to us” or “contact our media outreach person.” Practically, this translates into goal pages and actions that should be highlighted and reinforced throughout the site.

Easy peasy

To run this relatively basic activity, we held multiple sessions gathering key people from different departments into a room / or on the phone. We had everyone separately prioritize their audiences and discuss their top 3. We then had everyone think through the KFFA template (above) for their top audience and then present their thinking. Not only is it a really efficient and clear way to get the feedback you need but it also sparks discussion, which often unearths valuable information and begins to shed light on where there may be competing priorities (what? never :).

So go forth and engage your clients with an easy activity that yields practical, actionable insight.

DIY: How to run this activity

1. Gather stakeholders. It’s helpful to include as many different people as you can, but really important ones include the Communications / Marketing Team and any senior stakeholders who might be able to unlock the key to their strategic vision (and might be able to derail the process later, if not involved at the forefront).

2. List known audiences. Open up time to brainstorm for any possible uncommon audience groups that get left off the radar.

3. Prioritize audiences. Let everyone do this separately, then go around the room and have each person present.

4. Fill out the KFFA template. Have each person use their #1 audience to fill out the template.

5. Present & discuss. Go around the room and have each person present their KFFA template.

6. Go away & compile the data. I pull out each sentence and group them on my wall at home. You’ll begin to see patterns about what’s being talked about the most.

7. Regroup with client and playback what you heard.

#userexperience #userresearch