[quoting Robert Kobus, 1 Mar 97] I also agree that an important component of instructional design is a thorough analysis of the target audience. This analysis may be quite different for commercial developers and instructional designers. Commercial developers typically make design decisions based on the "market." They are very interested in "what sells their software to the most people." Instructional designers usually, hopefully always, consider the instructional needs of their target audience and primarily make decisions based on the "student." They are very interested in "what methodology provides the most effective and efficient instruction."
I think the issue is a little more complex than the implication above that what the "market" wants is different from what the "student" wants.
When we at TRO do our front-end analysis, we take into account the needs and wants of three clients:
That's a 2 x 3 matrix, or six questions to ask in "needs analysis." Furthermore, as you imply, if the software is to be used by more than one group with one profile of answers across all six questions, then we have to do a 2 x 3 x n matrix. It gets real complicated!