Week 7 – Personas

Introduction

To create a successful website or product, understanding your users is crucial. Personas are a powerful tool to help you achieve this understanding. Personas are fictional characters representing the different user types interacting with your website or product. They are based on research and analysis of your users’ behaviors, needs, and goals. I will discuss two primary approaches to creating personas, qualitative and quantitative [1], and we will use the Quantitative approach for creating the personas from the previous ToDo application.

Qualitative Personas

Qualitative personas are based on qualitative user research methods. Qualitative research is about discovering new things with a small sample size. User interviews and usability testing are examples of qualitative research methods [1]. With qualitative personas, you develop a deep understanding of your users’ behaviors, needs, and goals by talking to a few users. Qualitative personas are created by analyzing the data collected from qualitative research methods. This data is used to identify user behavior patterns and develop a set of characteristics that define each user type. These characteristics are then used to create fictional characters representing each user type. Qualitative personas are useful for identifying user needs and goals, as well as for developing design ideas and testing usability. They are also useful for communicating user needs and goals to stakeholders.

Quantitative Personas

Quantitative personas are based on quantitative user research methods. Quantitative research is about testing or proving something with a large sample size. Surveys and site traffic analysis are examples of quantitative research methods [1]. With quantitative personas, you develop a broad understanding of your users’ behaviors, needs, and goals by analyzing data collected from many users. Quantitative personas are created by analyzing the data collected from quantitative research methods. This data is used to identify user behavior patterns and develop a set of characteristics that define each user type. These characteristics are then used to create fictional characters representing each user type. Quantitative personas are useful for identifying trends in user behavior, as well as for validating design decisions. They are also useful for communicating user needs and goals to stakeholders.

Creating Personas

When creating a persona, there are some factors that need to be taken into consideration. These factors are listed as follows [2]:

1. Gather Data: Collect data from various sources such as user interviews, surveys, market research, customer support interactions, and analytics data. This data should provide insights into your users, their goals and pain points, and how they interact with your product or service.

2. Segment Users: Analyze the collected data to identify common patterns and characteristics among your user base. Segment users based on demographic information (age, gender, location), psychographic factors (lifestyle, interests, values), and behavioral traits (usage frequency, preferences).

3. Define Persona Attributes: Based on the identified segments, create detailed persona profiles that represent distinct user archetypes. Each persona should include attributes such as:
   

4. Name: Give each persona a fictional name to humanize them.

5. Demographics: Age, gender, location, occupation, education level, etc.

6. Goals and Objectives: What are their primary goals and objectives related to your product or service?

7. Pain Points: What challenges or frustrations do they encounter in achieving their goals?

8. Motivations: What motivates them to use your product or service?

9. Behaviors: How do they typically interact with your product or service? What features do they use most frequently?

10. Preferences: What are their preferences in terms of user experience, communication channels, pricing, etc.

11. Influences: What factors influence their decision-making process, such as recommendations from friends or online reviews?

12. Validate Personas: Once you’ve created persona profiles, validate them with real user data and feedback. Conduct user interviews or surveys to gather input from representative users and ensure that the personas accurately reflect their needs and behaviors.

13. Prioritize Personas: Prioritize personas based on factors such as their impact on business goals, size of the user segment, and alignment with the product’s strategic objectives. Focus on personas that represent the most significant opportunities or pose the greatest challenges for your product.

14. Use Personas for Decision-Making: Incorporate personas into your development process to guide decision-making across all stages, from ideation and design to development and marketing.

15. Iterate and Update: Regularly revisit and update personas based on new data, user behavior changes, or market trend shifts. Keep personas dynamic and reflective of evolving user needs to ensure ongoing relevance and effectiveness in guiding product decisions.

Sample Personas

For the Todo App, I used Open AI ChatGpt and Microsoft Copilot to fill in details [3][4] and create the images [5][6] for the Busy Professional and Student Quantitative personas.

Busy Professional

Name: Sarah Johnson

Demographics: Sarah is a 32-year-old female living in a busy urban area. She has a master’s degree in marketing and works as a marketing manager for a tech company.

Goals and Objectives: Sarah’s primary goal is to manage her work and personal tasks effectively in a busy environment. She wants to be able to prioritize tasks and stay on top of deadlines to maintain a work-life balance.

Pain Points: Sarah often feels overwhelmed with her workload and struggles to manage her tasks effectively. She finds it challenging to prioritize tasks and often ends up missing deadlines, leading to stress and anxiety.

Motivations: Sarah is motivated to use a to-do app that can help her stay organized, prioritize tasks, and achieve a sense of accomplishment. She wants to feel in control of her tasks and reduce her stress levels.

Behaviors: Sarah interacts with the to-do app frequently throughout the day, accessing it on her laptop and mobile phone. She uses the app’s features to categorize tasks by project, set reminders, and track her progress. She finds the app’s notification feature helpful in keeping her on track with her tasks.

Preferences: Sarah prefers a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate. She values a to-do app that integrates well with her existing tools, such as her calendar and email. She is willing to pay for a premium version of the app if it offers additional features such as team collaboration and data analysis.

Influences: Sarah is influenced by online reviews and recommendations from her colleagues and friends. She values a to-do app with a good security and privacy reputation. She is also influenced by the app’s customer service and responsiveness to user feedback.

Student

Name: Alex Rodriguez

Demographics: Alex is a 20-year-old male pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He lives on campus in a college town.

Goals and Objectives: Alex’s primary goal is to stay organized and manage his coursework effectively. He wants to stay on top of his assignments, deadlines, and project timelines to maintain a good GPA.

Pain Points: Alex often struggles to manage his time effectively and prioritize his tasks. He finds it challenging to keep track of all his assignments, readings, and projects. He also experiences anxiety related to upcoming exams and deadlines.

Motivations: Alex is motivated to use a to-do app that can help him stay organized, focused, and productive. He wants to feel in control of his coursework and reduce his stress levels.

Behaviors: Alex interacts with the to-do app frequently throughout the day, accessing it on his laptop and mobile phone. He uses the app’s features to categorize tasks by class, set reminders, and track his progress. He finds the app’s notification feature helpful in keeping him on track with his tasks.

Preferences: Alex prefers a user-friendly interface that is easy to navigate. He values a to-do app that integrates well with his existing tools, such as his calendar and email. He is willing to pay for a premium version of the app if it offers additional features such as team collaboration and data analysis. Alex also prefers a to-do app that offers a gamified experience, where he can earn rewards or points for completing tasks.

Influences: Alex is influenced by online reviews and recommendations from his classmates and professors. He values a to-do app with a good reputation for reliability and efficiency. He is also influenced by the app’s customer service and responsiveness to user feedback.

Citations

[1] Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar. 2006. The user is always right: a practical guide to creating and using personas for the web (First. ed.). New Riders Publishing, USA.

[2] OpenAI. “ChatGPT Prompt: As a UX Researcher, how would you create personas?.” ChatGPT 3.5, https://www.openai.com/chatgpt.

[3] OpenAI. “ChatGPT Prompt: Create a Quantitative persona of a Busy professional for a ToDo application.” ChatGPT 3.5, https://www.openai.com/chatgpt.

[4] OpenAI. “ChatGPT Prompt: Create a Quantitative persona of a Student for a ToDo application.” ChatGPT 3.5, https://www.openai.com/chatgpt.

[5] Microsoft. “Microsoft Copilot Prompt: Create a real image of “Sarah, a 32-year-old female living in a busy urban area. She has a master’s degree in marketing and works as a marketing manager for a tech company.” Microsoft Copilot, https://copilot.microsoft.com/

[6] Microsoft. “Microsoft Copilot Prompt: Create a real image of “Alex, a 20-year-old male pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science. He lives on campus in a college town.” Microsoft Copilot, https://copilot.microsoft.com/