communicating to diverse audiences: persona development
TRANSCRIPT
Communicating to Diverse Audiences: Persona DevelopmentMegan Homeyer, Billy McKim, & Holli Leggette
Texas A&M University
The Problem?
There is a communication gap between the growing adult population and the shrinking agriculture population.
82.7% of the U.S. population lives in urban areas (Worldometers, 2016)
Most Americans are at least one or more generations removed from the farm or ranch (Dimitri, Effland, & Conklin, 2005).
Agriculture sometimes uses the “hypodermic needle” model of communicating (Evans, 1985) that injects information one direction.
This is not effective
What is a better way of communicating?
The Problem?
The Solution?
• Create a “person” that represents a group of people
• Allows communicators to create messages for specific groups
• Are a way to tailor information to targeted audiences
• Learn how to speak their language (start out on the same page)
Personas
The Solution?
• Emphasizes the unique individuals you are trying to connect to
• Help focus and aid communication
• Provide empathy and a human element to the design stage
The Solution?
Personas need to be: Life-like
Consistent
Representative
Data-driven
Persona Lifecycle
Adlin & Pruitt, 2010
Family Planning
•Development of research idea
Gestation
•Creation & development of personas
Birth and Maturation
•Introduction of personas
Adulthood
•Personas are active and utilized
Retirement
•Evaluate usefulness of personas
Create a team
Identify goals What do you want your persona(s) to accomplish?
Improve the process of team communication
Improve communication to audiences
Improve organization
Family Planning
Create an action plan Define scope of project
Data Existing (internal and external)
Original
Secondary
Stay organized
Family Planning
Family Planning
Description Date Source Incorporated?
Primary Interview 2/02/16 Resp_001 Yes
Questionnaire 4/18/16 Resp_004 Yes
Existing perspectives of agriculture
5/22/14 Tegan, et al., 2014
Yes
Gestation
1. What are existing stereotypes? Helps structure data processing
Builds bridge between what is currently thought and created personas
2. Process data Identify themes
Gestation
Different methods of collecting data for creation of personas: Ad Hoc
In-depth interviews
Surveys
Q Sort
Combination
Gestation
Gestation
3. Create initial persona Brief
4. Validate
Gestation
Gestation
Create communication strategy
Introduction of the persona
Implement and continue to develop
Birth and Maturation
Personas are being used
Educating team on how to utilize the personas
Keep planning, designing, and evaluating
Adulthood
Measure effectiveness
Are the data still accurate?
Either continue with current personas or transition to a new project
Retire the personas
Retirement
What goes into a persona?
ThoughtsBeliefs
OpinionsAttitudes
GenderYOBRace
IncomeEducation Level
ContentMedium
Times Access
Psychographics
Psychographics
Demographics
Demographics
Media Consumption
Media Consumption
Personas
Psychographics
Psychographics
Demographics
Demographics
Media Consumption
Media Consumption
Example
Psychographics
Psychographics
Demographics
Demographics
Media Consumption
Media Consumption
(Mobly, 2016)
No definite stance on animal use or animal rights
Can be found on Facebook or YouTube
Familiar with the web
Easily influenced
The Follower
Has a love for animals, but are not animal activists
Believe the food industry requires improvement
Use the internet and YouTube
Familiar with Facebook, but does not access frequently
Listens to radio daily
Compassionate Information
Seeker
The Visual Learner
Likes images (Instagram) [Survey]
Does not like newspapers or magazines [Survey]
Supports animal agriculture, but more for food than rodeo [Q Sort]
The Follower
•Unsure of stance on animal use and/or animal rights
Mobly, 2016
•Target on Facebook or YouTube
•Increase engagement with videos
Compassionate Information Seeker
Mobly, 2016
•Cares for animals, but not activist
•Most familiar with YouTube and Web
• Food industry needs improvement
•Alternative platform is Facebook
The Visual Learner
•Target on Instagram or other image-heavy platforms
• Do not try to engage through paper-based platforms
✔ • Positive attitude toward animal use and consumption
•Undecided on the use of animals for entertainment
Mobly, 2016
Family Planning RetirementAdulthoodBirth and MaturationGestation
The Next Step
Initial Personas
Traditionalist
Organic Believer
Opinionated Learner
Health Conscious
Indifferent
Traditionalist
?
Psychographics
Psychographics
Demographics
Demographics
Media Consumption
Media Consumption
Traditionalist
Organic Believer
Opinionated Learner
Health Conscious
Indifferent
Traditionalist
Unaware
Easily Influenced
Family Planning RetirementAdulthoodBirth and MaturationGestation
Future Research
Some things to remember
Personas are a means to an end, not THE end
Can be a useful tool, but not infallible
Numerous methods to create personas
Time consuming
