Target Audience · Where they are · Component

The attention state

What they are doing when they are there — because the same person searching, scrolling and sitting in a meeting is three different audiences.

The deliverable

What it is

A message that works when someone is actively searching fails when they are scrolling past it, and the reverse. The place determines the state and the state determines what can be said.

Intent is the sharpest distinction: someone looking for a solution and someone who has never considered the problem require different messages and different measures.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

  1. The state

    What they are doing in this place.

    3 attributes: State · Attention available · In place

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  2. The intent

    Whether they are looking for something like this.

    3 attributes: Intent level · What they are doing instead · Appropriate measure

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  3. The message fit

    What can actually be said in this state.

    3 attributes: Message type · Ask size · Format constraint

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A complex argument in a low-attention place is not a bad message. It is a message in the wrong place.