STOPS
Someone realizes something is wrong and something should be done.
What is problem recognition?
Name ONE of the three main stakeholder-priority attributes.
Power, legitimacy, or urgency.
The core customer group a company understands and can serve exceptionally well.
What is a Design Target?
Who recognizes a problem and becomes communicatively active?
STOPS
THE ANGRY CUSTOMER
A customer notices a product problem and starts Googling it, reading reviews, and looking for answers.
Which reading best explains this behavior?
STOPS
Does this problem actually affect me?
What is involvement recognition?
A stakeholder possessing power + legitimacy + urgency is called this.
What is a definitive stakeholder?
Customers who buy from you AND enthusiastically recommend you to others.
Who are promoters?
Who deserves the organization's attention first?
Rawlins
LOUD vs. POWERFUL
Group A: Going viral complaining online
Group B: Has power + legitimacy + urgency
According to Rawlins, which receives greater priority?
Group B
I care, but I don't think I can do anything about it. What is HIGH?
What is constraint recognition?
Rawlins warns against automatically prioritizing this stakeholder simply because they're making the most noise.
What is the squeaky wheel stakeholder?
A Design Target is found at the overlap of these two groups.
Profitable promoters + conceptually attractive customer segments.
Which customers can we serve particularly well?
Find Your Sweet Spot
BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER
Research finds a massive potential market, but your organization doesn't have the capabilities to serve that group particularly well.
According to Sweet Spot, should you automatically target them?
No. The article emphasizes matching attractive customer groups with what the company can actually serve well.
STOPS expands communication beyond acquiring information to include these two additional domains.
What are information selection and information transmission?
True or false: Stakeholder priority stays the same once established.
False — priority can change as the situation changes.
This company used “points junkies” as a Design Target for its Rewards Plus Gold Card.
What is American Express?
The loudest group isn't automatically the most important group.
Rawlins
SAME COMPANY, DIFFERENT LENS
A company has:
A. People actively posting about a problem
B. A stakeholder with power, legitimacy & urgency
C. Loyal, profitable customers who recommend the brand
Match each to the reading most useful for analyzing it.
A → STOPS
B → Rawlins
C → Sweet Spot
According to STOPS, what happens to situational motivation when problem recognition and involvement increase, but perceived constraints decrease?
Situational motivation increases, making communicative action more likely.
A community has a legitimate, urgent claim but little direct power. What TWO attributes does it currently possess?
Legitimacy + urgency.
Why can targeting a huge, attractive customer segment actually hurt a company?
Because companies can cast too wide a net and pursue customers they aren't especially equipped to serve, ultimately satisfying few customers well.
Someone can recognize a problem but still not become highly communicatively active if they perceive too many barriers to acting.
STOPS — high constraint recognition reduces situational motivation.
A stakeholder has:
Would STOPS and Rawlins necessarily give this group the same level of importance? Why or why not?
Not necessarily. STOPS would help explain why this group may become highly communicatively active, while Rawlins separately considers attributes such as power, legitimacy, and urgency when determining stakeholder priority.