If there is one trend that had a lasting impact on the news industry in recent years, it's the user needs model.

It started in 2016 when Dmitry Shishkin worked at the BBC World Service. He devised a framework for smarter commissioning of news content that factors in what audiences genuinely need, not just what editors presume people want to read about.

The model was later expanded and adopted by many other news outlets, and gained its own section in the industry-defining Reuters Institute Digital News Report.

So colour us interested when Shishkin unveiled a user needs model specifically for sports publishers today (11 February).

Introducing the Sports User Needs model: a new framework for audience-centric sports content strategy
Today smartocto and I are launching the Sports User Needs Model. It’s a practical framework for sports newsrooms and brands to plan, commission, and measure coverage based on why fans consume content in a given moment - not just what happened.
LinkedInDmitry Shishkin

The framework organises sports coverage around the same four core axes: 'know', 'do', 'understand' and 'feel' – the intentions that audiences come to media to fulfil. But there are 11 individual user needs within those axes, including some familiar and new terms:

  • Know — Update me, Show me live (updates in real time, i.e. scores, transfers). A dominant but ultimately ubiquitous output.
  • Understand — Introduce me to, Explain it to me, Take me backstage (access to players and behind the scenes; sought-after by diehard fans)
  • Feel — Entertain me, Fire me up, Relive it with me (sport can be a love-hate relationship; this taps into deep-seated feelings of pride, anger, nostalgia, etc.).
  • Do — Let me join in, Test me, Help me (a participatory outlet for fans to voice their opinions, test their knowledge and make predictions – good for relationship building)

JournalismUK chucked Shishkin a message to understand how it all works. Here is what he says.

Where do sports publishers start?