User Personas Guide
What it is:
Personas are representations of key audience segments that provide a clear picture of target audiences' expectations, goals and values. In other words, personas are "models of the people for whom we believe we are solving a problem" (Lean UX).
Typically, design personas are based on extensive field research and real people. "Proto-personas" are based on best guesses and assumptions rather than extensive user research. Following a Lean UX approach, the team creates proto-personas to capture assumptions, and then adjusts personas and designs as they learn from ongoing research.
How to do it:
There are many different persona formats and ways to create user personas (see Examples below). Regardless of how you go about creating personas, they should reflect/capture what you assume or know about:
- The main behavior patterns of your users
- The motivations and goals of your users
- Current pain points of your users
Why to do it:
Personas add a layer of real-world consideration to project conversations and can help to uncover the most-needed features and functionality and inform decisions about information architecture and development priorities.
Recommended Reading:
- Jeff Gothelf, Lean UX, chapter 3
- Usability.gov, "Personas"
- A List Apart: "Resurrecting Dead Personas" (July 26, 2016)