From Research to Personas

by KEVIN SILVER :: JUN 17, 2008 :: COMMENTS (0)

One of the most recurrent questions asked of us is how we create personas. Everyone wants to know the secret sauce. Before I spill the beans, it's more important to ask, "Why even create a persona?"

Simply put, personas are a great tool that helps us model the context of a design situation from the end user's perspective. They are used to remind us of the goals and needs of the potential end user of a website, application or digital product as we work through the design process.

In our process of creating personas, we like to start with user research, because this is the surefire way to learn about the end user. You can make assumptions about a potential user group, but at the end of the day you'll learn more by just going out and listening to them. Sometimes, we don't have the time or budget to go ahead with in-depth user research, so we will at times make informed assumptions and create personas that are not based on research. This is still valuable, because we are forced to think about the users and identify their needs and goals.

All research begins with identifying potential end user groups and segmenting them by tasks they might perform. We are more concerned with how users will interact with the product, rather than who they are demographically. Next, we will set up and conduct interviews with the potential end users, using ethnographic techniques. This involves using non-directed interviews or observation in the user’s environment. Immersing ourselves in the user’s world allows us to fully understand the context of use.

The outcome of the research is analyzed to detect patterns in usage, motivation, goals and needs. These patterns are the basis of the personas. We use various techniques to segment the patterns into various archetypes, based on goals and needs. This typically includes using a lot of sticky notes to create affinity groups that plaster our office walls. Depending on the situation, we'll organize these affinity groups into mental model diagrams, which are really helpful in organizing and viewing the research results in a meaningful manner.

Based on the information gleaned from our research, we give the archetypes a story and a face to bring them to life. The number of personas we develop is dependent on the situation. In one case, we developed two personas that had different goals and needs based upon the length of time they use to complete a task, which was making a major purchase.

Personas are used to tell stories. We’ll typically include not only background information about the persona, but also a scenario covering their goals and needs. The stories are fully based on the conducted research. The hallmark of a successful interview is when we use one of the interviewees' stories in our personas.

Personas are a powerful yet simple tool that can be indispensable to a project. Personas do not dictate a design, but they excel at informing the design process that conjures up the final solution. So, that's the secret sauce!

tags: DESIGN, DESIGN RESEARCH, EXPERIENCE DESIGN, INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE, INTERACTION DESIGN, PERSONAS, PROCESS, USER EXPERIENCE, USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN, USER RESEARCH, UXD

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