Hello, this time we will understand the target audience. Let's assume you are planning to create and sell something, whether it's a specific product or an app. Which of these would be easier? Naturally, it's easier to plan for a specific group, like men in their 60s living in Incheon, rather than targeting all Koreans. And it becomes even easier if you narrow it down to just one person—specifically, your 67-year-old father, who has a high level of understanding. Since you only need to satisfy this one person, planning becomes much simpler. If you include yourself in the target audience, it becomes ridiculously easy because you already know what you need. As you narrow down your target, the criteria become clearer, making planning easier. 

Next, let's consider another obvious question. Suppose we are selling toys for children aged 6 to 7. The first person that comes to mind as the target user would naturally be the children using these toys, but...

Parents with young children can also be a target, as well as places where many children gather, such as daycare centers or kids' cafes. There are various other possibilities, but these three are representative. One important concept to keep in mind is that the actual user and the purchaser can be different. The primary users of these toys are, of course, young children. When we refer to services like websites or apps, we call them end users. To successfully design such an app, it is important to understand these end users well. However, in cases where the purchaser is separate, we also need to consider the main target buyers, as they can be key marketing targets. For example, let's assume there is a B2B human resource management system. In this case, the end users would naturally be all employees, while the main marketing target would likely be the HR personnel within the company.

Additionally, if we add some conditions, companies that lack internal personnel or do not have their own solutions could also be potential targets. While it is certainly important to focus on end users, the primary marketing target is crucial. This is because general employees are not only uninterested in the human resources management system but also tend to follow the procedures established by the company after joining. The marketing target here would be the HR personnel within the company. These individuals are likely to understand the real issues they face while managing dozens or hundreds of employees, what their challenges are, what functions they need, and what the shortcomings are of the other services they have been using. They have a higher probability of identifying the painkiller features that are truly necessary. Therefore, planning and designing for this target group is very important. While I have given a B2B example, this applies not only to B2B but also to the commonly used B2C, C2C, and D2C models.

There are various business models, and the interests of different targets can vary significantly. It’s good to be aware of this, but it’s difficult for us to experience everything and fully understand it all. Therefore, when we design an app, the most important first step is to narrow down and understand the target audience. If the target is not appropriate, it’s not much different from giving a real estate investment lecture to elementary school students. It’s not much different from showing you something like a pink phone just because you think it’s fun. So, it’s obvious that the target is important in business. However, when calculating and designing an app, there are business aspects that we need to consider. Before discussing that further, I would like to introduce some content that I think you should be aware of, so I brought a video. To briefly introduce the person, he is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, and he was also involved in early Facebook.

Investors are also very famous figures. It’s not enough to just imitate someone; that's not how it works. The reason I previously mentioned that there are no definitive answers is related to this context. One of the examples discussed in Zero to One is that Amazon, in its early days, did not sell every product like it does now; it started with books and gradually expanded. This was possible because they targeted a narrow audience that had no bookstores nearby or wanted to purchase specific books online. You can think of this as an application of the long-tail theory. In a similar vein, when looking at the local scene, Kakao initially dominated the messaging app KakaoTalk, which allowed it to gradually expand into various businesses. Peter Thiel also discusses monopolies in this way: people who don’t have monopolies pretend to have something unique about their business because otherwise, nobody would invest or support them.

If you have a monopoly like Google, you will pretend that you are in a much larger market. So, when Google talks about the search business, they say they have a 66% share of the search market and that they are much more dominant than Microsoft ever was in the operating system market in the 1990s. This is very important in business. As UI designers, it can be difficult for us to understand this deeply, but companies that have a monopoly act as if they don’t, while companies that cannot enjoy a monopoly pretend to have some originality in their business to attract investment. There are many interesting stories related to this, so I recommend watching this video and reading the book titled Zero to One. Therefore, for us who design UX/UI, it is very important to think about what target audience we are addressing and what problems we are solving. I believe that the services we understand as monopolistic are actually based on accumulated user experiences.

I believe it serves as a criterion for judgment because many people have adapted to it over a long period. For example, initially, vehicles had three wheels, or the smartphones created by Steve Jobs were in a flip-phone shape. In our country, if we primarily used forks instead of chopsticks, the quality of any monopolized form, practice, or service in the past would have been different, and I think our standards would also be different now. I explained this in detail, but to summarize the key point: the initial target should be narrow and specific. If a startup has just begun or a company is preparing for a new business, it seems very important to define this initial target. The differences based on this target become quite evident. Let me take a securities app as an example. Currently, on the left, we have KakaoPay Securities, and on the right, we have Mirae Asset.

This is a securities image. Depending on the target audience, some may prefer the left side while others may prefer the right side. For example, it's not aimed at those referred to as owners, like Kakao Pay securities or Toss securities. Rather, it's aimed at those who have been investing in stocks for a long time, such as those who have used Mirae Asset Securities; for them, the right side would naturally be the standard. While there may be some who are confused about what buying and selling mean initially, those who have invested for several years are unlikely to be confused about it. However, beginners in stock trading are likely to prefer Toss Securities or Kakao Pay Securities. Here, we can see that the terms buy and sell have been replaced with purchase and sale, respectively, indicating a shift in the terminology that has been used for decades.

This can be seen as an attempt. Here, we have a screen that shows charts. On the left, there is a very simple chart, and below it, there is trading volume. On the right, however, we can see something that looks quite complex. The right side includes various indicators, from Bollinger Bands to moving averages, as well as MACD, RSI, and Williams %R. It’s important to quickly assess how to invest in stocks and when to sell, so some people prefer to see everything at a glance, even if it looks complicated. For instance, for someone engaged in short-term trading, every second is crucial. If unnecessary animations waste time during trading, I would consider that a disruptive design rather than a good one. Even within the same business area, services are provided differently based on the app's main target. Additionally, within the same app, the user experience can vary according to different segments.

사용 방식이 다를 수 있습니다. 여기에 제가 다섯 가지만 적었는데요, 이거 외에도 여러 가지가 있긴 하지만 일반적으로 많이 사용되는 다섯 가지만 짧게 설명드리겠습니다. 

우선 첫 번째로 가운데에 보이는 활성 고객은 액티브 유저라고 하죠. 정기적으로 이 앱 서비스를 사용하는 유저를 말합니다. 그리고 왼쪽에 참여 고객이 있는데, 인게이지드 유저라고 합니다. 이들은 앱 방문과 재방문율이 매우 높고, 콘텐츠를 생성하고 공유하는 등의 활동을 활발히 하는 고객입니다. 

이보다 더 높은 충성 고객이 있습니다. 로얄 유저라고 하는데, 장기간 동안 서비스에 지속적으로 이용하는 유저로서 높은 재방문율과 브랜드에 대한 충성도를 가진 고객이라고 보시면 됩니다. 주로 이런 분들 덕분에 해당 앱 서비스의 매출을 높일 수 있는 것입니다. 

그리고 네 번째는 위험 고객인데, 앱에...

We refer to users who show decreased activity and low participation, making them likely to churn. If these individuals discover better services, they will leave. These are the customers we consider to have churned. We also measure churn rates, which are important indicators for assessing the health of the app service. Additionally, we have new users and returning users, among others, but I won't go into those details. I know I’ve been talking for a while, but I think this is sufficient to understand the target. The most important thing is that designers should not identify themselves with the target. You need to strive to understand the level of users who will use the app service you are designing, and it’s crucial to combine features and design accordingly. Sometimes, as one’s experience or rank increases, you might think, If I were a user, I wouldn’t...

There are often people who claim, If I were a user, I would do this. However, I believe this is a risky approach unless there is concrete evidence or data to support such claims. This is why the concept of being data-driven has emerged, emphasizing that insights should be derived from quantitative data. While I consider this aspect important, I also think there are some pitfalls associated with it. Therefore, when discussing data-driven approaches, I would like to delve a bit deeper into the topic. In the next video, I will talk about personas.

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