Data-Driven Design Research Personas

UPA 2007

What. Why. Where.

QWhat is a persona?

“A persona is a user archetype you can use to help guide decisions about product features, navigation, interactions, and even visual design.”- Kim Goodwin, Cooper

Personas are a representative behavior and activity profile for a customer base.

Personas are contextual and specific to the particular application or service.

QWhy do we have them?

The average user doesn’t exist.

Keeping the you out of user and customer.

QWhat kinds of personas are there?

Marketing & design research

As a design research tool, they are a powerful way to communicate knowledge, activities, interests, influencers, goals, and pain points.

Design research personas can be used for design

Design research personas can be used for research

Design research personas can be used for recruiting

Design research personas can be used for customer service

Design research personas can be used for training

Design research personas are

Design research personas are data-driven

Design research personas are not a set of demographics

Knowledge. Activities. Interests. Influencers. Goals. Frustrations and pain points.

QWhere does the data come from?

Design research personas include multiple data sources

Both internal...

Key stakeholders, web analytics, and customer support.

...and external

The customer, customer advocate, and someone you know.

Presenting the Data

5

4

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2

1

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1

Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Comm

unity Pages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

QHow do you test and validate your design research personas?

The reality check.

The someone you know check.

Did we have lunch together yesterday?

Have you spoken to them on the phone recently?

Stages of the Persona Life-cycle

Okay, so I have my design research personas. Now what?

1Development

2Birth

3Maturation

4Retirement

Common Pitfalls and Mistakes

1Marketing vs. research design personas

2Large persona sets

3Too much personal information

4The recycle trap

5Not used throughout the design research process

Exercise: Persona Shootout

Michael

1.0 Highly Seasoned

Product T

raining

New Product In

fo

Product S

election

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Altern

ate Selectio

ns

Competit

ive Inte

l

Case Stu

dies

Quote Build

er

Accesso

ry Finder

Reports

5

4

3

2

1

Knowledge Activities and Interest

Product T

raining

New Product In

fo

Product S

election

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Altern

ate Selectio

ns

Competit

ive Inte

l

Case Stu

dies

Quote Build

er

Accesso

ry Finder

Reports

5

4

3

2

1

Knowledge Activities and Interest

Exercise: Segmentation and Patterns

1The Hunter Gatherer

Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Department P

ages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

5

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2The Worker Bee

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1

Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Department P

ages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

3The Hive Tender

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Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Department P

ages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

4The Librarian

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1

Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Department P

ages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

5The Supporter

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1

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2

1

Intern

al Rese

arch To

ols

Intranet S

earch

Department P

ages

Domain Knowledge

Tech

nology Knowledge

Experience

Blogs IMEm

ail

Shared D

rives

Phone

Google

Confidence

& Tru

st

Productiv

ity

Comm

unity

The Source

Resource

Managem

ent

Exercise: Creation

Create personas for a Company Intranet

Create personas for a mobile communication product/service

Don’t forget their Knowledge. Activities. Interests. Influencers. Goals. Frustrations and pain points.

Ready. Set. Go.

Exercise: Presentation and Critique

Data-Driven Design Research Personas

UPA 2007