Module B: Plan
What are audience needs?
“Putting the end user first” is a critical part of OBPE. Think of the end user as the target audience whose needs you meet.
Audience needs may be wants, deficits, conditions, or other gaps between skills/knowledge audiences already have and those they want.
Sometimes audiences request programs. Sometimes program planners plan programs to fill gaps between the current situation and what they want for audiences.
Try thinking what the audiences listed below might need.
Commuter students: Commuter students want textbooks as audiobooks.
Girl Scout: Girl scout must identify 5 local birds to earn a badge.
Low income Rural Residents: People in rural low-income areas lack access to educational materials available on computers.
Museum Example
Library Example
Museum audience: conditions, wants and deficits
Try thinking of conditions, wants and deficits that museum program planners want to address.
Wants: Children enjoy watching zoo animals.
Deficits: Adults cannot distinguish stars from planets in the sky.
Conditions: Children may perceive science as hard and boring.
Library example: conditions, wants and deficits
Try thinking of conditions, wants and deficits that library program planners want to address.
Wants: Librarians notice that older library patrons need self-paced training on computer use.
Deficits: Children know little about what immigrants have added to their city.
Conditions: Many blind patrons are cut off from news and email because they don’t know how to use adaptive technology.