Almost everything we make in creative industries has an intended target. The target might be narrow, and it might be broad, but it is almost never the people making the work, the people buying the work, or the people evaluating the work as it progresses. Reminding ourselves how we differ from the people who we're creating things for helps us understand how we should be thinking about our work, how we should be judging it, and how our processes need to change to ensure that we're making the right thing, for the right people. Part polemic, part process discussion, and part case study, this talk aims to remind us that we aren't (usually) our target, but also to remind us how important it is that we strive to respect who the target actually is, what they know, and how they'll approach the things we make.

Key take-aways:

• Develop a clear understanding of why defining a target is important and how it can be done meaningfully
• The ways a target audience should impact and inform the way we work and what we make
• Clearly define the key considerations and process guidelines for evaluating work (or helping clients evaluate work) through the lens of the target
• Create understanding of the importance of defining (and respecting) how you may differ from those you are creating for, in developing genuine empathy for the user / customer / audience