Generative AI for Technical Writer or Information Developers
Question 3
1. Audience feedback was vital element of my production
process, as it allowed me find out what was going well
in my products and also what I needed to improve on.
Moreover, it ensured that I was creating high quality
and visually pleasing products that appealed to my
target audience.
The primary target audience for my products were
male and females for the aged 16-25. My primary
demographic is BC1 and C2. I feel that this is
appropriate demographic as it is mainly middle class,
lower middle class and skilled working class that listen
to drum and bass. It would be unlikely that a grade A
(upper middleclass) such as a lawyer or accountant
would listen to this genre due to the stereotype’s it
carries i.e. drug/alcohol use. People of demographic
BC1 and C2 are heavily stereotyped with the use of
substances and alcohol in their everyday lives, thus
making them the appropriate target audience for my
products. I also have a secondary audience, which
consists of both females and males aged from 12 to
35. The demographic for my target audience would
include AD and E. This again is down to the
stereotypes of the genre, as aforementioned a upper
middle class person would most likely not listen to
drum and bass, however, it could be possible that a
percentage of that demographic do enjoy the genre. I
chose my primary target audience based on the genre
of the song. ‘Afterglow’ by Wilkinson comes under the
genre of Drum and Bass. Drum and Bass, is similar to
2. the genre of Dance and is usually associated with
clubs, festivals, raves and parties. The target audience
of male and females aged 16-25 regularly attend
places such as clubs and festivals which play Drum
and Bass. The genre is also heavily associated with
intoxication, whether that be through the method of
using illegal drugs and alcohol. This age group is well
associated with heavy drinking and drug use, this
being the reason my products, particularly my music
video was based heavily on my protagonist drinking,
and the effect that this had on her mind and physical
state. In doing this my products follow Blumler and
Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory. My music video
more specifically will allow the audience to identify
with the protagonists thoughts, behaviours and even
find reinforcement for their own personal values.
Moreover, my products can gain entertainment from
my music video, allowing them to escape from their
own issues and problems in their lives. My music
video could also allow the audience to release their
emotions through the connection they can make with
the protagonist, thus making them feel like they are
not alone. The theme of ‘clubs and festivals’ was also
portrayed through the shots of crowds dancing in my
music video and also the image of a group of people
dancing on my digipak. I also feel that my target
audience will primarily be individualistic. Drum and
Bass, even though stems from the genre of Dance
which is very mainstream at this current time; is a very
new and different type of music. Individualists are
3. interested in new, un-tried things such as music. They
also are determined to be different and not to follow
the crowd. Even though the genre of Drum and Bass
is becoming more prominent in today’s society, it
takes a specific audience to actually listen to it and like
it, thus showings its individualistic tendencies in
comparison to say the genre of pop which would
attract mainstreamers and conformers and also
aspirers who consider social status important and
want to fit into the crowd.
I made sure that I gathered audience feedback for all
of my products. A way of generating feedback came
from the use of social networking sites. Sites such as
Facebook and twitter allowed me to post my products
on my profile and publicize then to my target
audience. Both male and females in this age group
are well known for their use and love of social
networking sites to connect with friends and other
people around the globe. As I knew that a lot of my
target audience had profiles on Facebook and Twitter I
felt it appropriate to post the products on there.
Alongside my music video, I also created a survey on
a website called surveymonkey.com, which allowed
me to come up with ten questions I felt it important to
ask. I asked questions like ‘Rate how professional my
music video looks out of 10’ and also ‘Please rate
each element of my music video’ and then listed,
Lighting, Editing, Narrative, Performance and Mise-enscene’. These types of questions allowed me to collect
4. quantitate data, which was easy and quick to analyse.
From these questions I received positive feedback
about for example my lighting and narrative, which
was classed as being ‘successful’. I also asked
questions that would collect qualitative data such as
‘How does my music video relate to the genre’ and
‘how could my music video be improved’. This meant
that my target audience could elaborate on how they
felt about my music video and give detailed answers,
thus allowing to understand what I needed to change.
However, for some of the feedback, I did take into
account but did not act on it. For example, someone
suggested that to improve my music video ‘I should
change the costume of my protagonist’. I did not act
upon this as my narrative was about my protagonist
over one night, which means that a change of
costume would cause confusion in the narrative. A
downfall of survey monkey however is that I did not
gather a lot of feedback, I only had around 15
responses from a mixture of both male and female all
in the age range of 16-25 and so felt I needed to
undertake other methods of collecting audience
feedback.
Another example of a way I collected audience
feedback was through the use of group interviews. I
was able to play my music video to my classmates
and they gave me feedback verbally and in written
format. I filmed this group session so I was able to
relate back to it when changing aspects of my music
5. video. I also asked people face to face what they
thought of my products and then took down notes.
Speaking to someone allowed me to collect rich
qualitative date as my target audience were able to
elaborate on their answers and reasoning’s. In terms
of audience feedback for my ancillary tasks i.e.
magazine advert and digipak, I did a one on one
interview with a few people and asked them what they
thought about my products. I received some positive
and negative feedback. Before even beginning to
create my digipak and magazine advert, I asked my
class mates what they thought of a ‘purple and white’
house style. I showed them the pictures I was
planning on using and what they thought of the
saturation I had placed on the images. I received a
positive response from my target audience and so felt
that in using the purple and white housetyle and the
images my ancillary products would impress the target
audience, and give them what they wanted. Later on, I
interview my target audience with due to concerns
with my second draft. My target audience stated that
the back of my digipak needed some work i.e. adding
more tracks and maybe another image. I agreed with
this and so, when it came to making my third draft of
my digipak I made the changes. In interviewing my
target audience I was able to cater for what they
wanted, thus making my ancillary tasks products of
what my audience wanted.
6. The most successful method of gaining audience
feedback for me was talking to my target audience
face to face, whether that is one on one or as a group.
I felt that this method allowed me to ask productive
questions to my audience and receive detailed and
precise answers on what they wanted to see in my
products. This was down to the fact they were able to
elaborate on their answers and visually point out to me
what they felt was a success and what needed to be
changed. Even though publicizing my products with a
survey on social networking sites was useful in
collecting quantitative data, I felt that it wasn’t helpful
in collecting qualitative date due to the fact my target
audience gave brief answers. Also, due to the
anonymity of the survey I was not able to ask the
people what they ‘meant by this?’
Overall, audience feedback has been crucial
processes in producing my products as it has allowed
me to gain an insight into what my target audience
(male and females aged 16-25) want in a drum and
bass music video, magazine advert and also digipak.
This in turn meaning I could create my products to suit
the needs of my audience.