“Research itself provides an important long-run perspective on the issues that we face on a day-to-day basis,” ~ Ben Bernanke

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Will Your Legacy Leave a Difference in the World?

Every day you wake up, put your best foot forward, and work for something that has meaning to you. Whether that’s your career, education, relationship, or a part-time passion, there is undoubtedly something that’s motivating you to keep going each day. If like many great goals, the success of yours is dependent upon a positive response or reaction from other people, then you have to get to know them. That’s where user personas enter the scene, bringing clarity and realism.

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What Are User Personas?

User Personas are simply tools that help people to understand one another. They are models or characters, which are created using data gathered from actual customers who have previously visited business websites or participated in studies (e.g. surveys, site analytics, case studies, etc.). The end result is a set of detailed personas, each one built to represent a different user type or target audience, which will genuinely enjoy using and benefit from an online resource, product, service, or brand. Of course, these are especially valuable to businesses and organizations that need to know about their unique customers in order to deliver tools that are commercially relevant.

User Personas Are …:

• Detailed insights into unique people (e.g. customers, clients, online audiences)
• Well-researched characters based on the backgrounds and behaviors of real people
• A strong tool for user-centered planning and design for public and private organizations

Remember, every organization works by attempting to tell a meaningful and compelling story about a group of individuals in society with whom they interact and serve. Ideally, a few of these individuals would be readily available to offer their opinions and advice on how to create great user experiences in any products and services. In lieu of this, many companies rely on User Personas to get a clearer picture and better serve target audiences.

What Kind of Information is Collected & Analyzed for Persona Development?

• Geographical Location and Language
• Demographic Information
• Behavioral Patterns
• Goals and Values
• Wants v. Needs
• Interests

Today, a good deal of the information required to build a standard set of about three to five personas can be gathered from a deep analysis of the visitors to your organization’s websites, social media pages, and other online resources.

What Are The Benefits of User Personas?

Personas provide many benefits to organizations that seek to better connect with customers in order to fulfill relevant wants and needs. This information can then be used in decision-making and ultimately guide the development of successful products, services, and brands. They have been a key part of consumer research for many successful companies ranging from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the world’s oldest national broadcasting business to Seventeen Magazine, a publication created in the 1940’s to inspire and empower young women. Both, are modern powerhouses that have used user personas and survived through their ability to understand audiences with them.

When Are User Personas Useful for Organizations?

• When you need to build digital applications for specific end-users (e.g. students, doctors, etc.)
• When you need to know who you’re talking to and how to approach your next presentation
• When you need to convince someone to act (e.g. visit a site, buy a product or service)
• When you need conduct consumer research for a personal or professional project
• When you want to save valuable time and money

User personas are especially useful for the creation of tools and resources that live online, such as websites, digital applications, web forms, and more. According to findings by John Pruitt, User Research Manager at Microsoft and Tamara Adlin, former Customer Experience Manager at Amazon.com, “Personas are said to be cognitively compelling because they put a personal human face on otherwise abstract data about customers. By thinking about the needs of a fictional persona, designers may be better able to infer what a real person might need. Such inference may assist with brainstorming, use case specification, and features definition,” (The Personas Lifecycle, 2006).

Specific Benefits of Personas to Digital Design & Development:

• Help team members share a specific, consistent understanding of audience groups
• Solutions and features are guided and prioritized based on the needs of potential users
  
• Provide a human face, so as to create empathy and understanding of actual customers (Wikipedia, 2016)
  

 In the words of one designer, “I have come across many strategies and approaches to increase the quality and consistency of my work, but none more effective than the persona. – Once I understood why personas were valuable and how they could be put into action, I started using them, and then something interesting happened: My process became more efficient and fun, while the fruits of my labor became more impactful and useful to others. Never before had I seen such a boost in clarity, productivity and success in my own work.” (Shlomo Goltz, 2016).

Technical Teams May Find Answers to Questions, Like …:

• What technological devices and platforms does our target customer use on a regular basis?
• How much time are they willing to spend interacting with the product in order to achieve a result?
• And, what related resources could enhance their experience with products (e.g. addt’l. features)?

The question of the ages is, with all of the time logged, money spent, sacrifices made, and energy that you’ve thrown into your professional pursuits, are your efforts leading you down a financially rewarding path? Part of the answer lies is in how well you know who you’re serving. Personas are invaluable because they help to teams to paint clear and authentic answers to this question. You could say that, the path to your success resides in your personas.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5763pPchvw

Happy Computing!

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