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A solidly built UX persona is a recipe for a great website, service, online shop and app. It is a signpost for those involved in creating a digital product. It will ensure that they don't stray from the right course, while you gain time and possibly save budget too. Download the template and create your own persona. I'll tell you how to do it step by step.
What is UX persona?
AUX persona is a description of a character that represents a specific group of the target audience of your application, website, online shop or service. It can be described as an archetype (pattern) of users who are similar in some way. Its characteristics, goals and needs express the requirements of a larger group of real people - your potential customers.
This is easier to understand with a concrete example. Let's say you are working on an IT, marketing and business news site. Your personas could be, for example:
- impatient, energetic and curious UX tester, eager for news from his sector;
- a poised, sensible entrepreneur who is looking for possible improvements and savings that he could implement in his company;
- an ambitious marketing professional who wants to keep up to date, values efficiency and is keen to achieve the best possible results and be promoted.
In order to call these 3 descriptions UX personae, you need to analyse them in more detail, characterise them and base them on specific data - I'll talk about this in more detail in a moment. As you can see, a UX persona is a filter through which you can look at your digital product from the user's perspective.
What business benefits does UX persona provide?
Let's go back to the service example. Imagine you are faced with a choice of button size (CTA). You have developed a persona and know that your users are most likely to use the site on their way to work and display it on their smartphones. Therefore, you decide on larger buttons to make it easier for them to navigate the site and achieve their goals.
The better you know your target group, the quicker you can meet their requirements and avoid solutions that are not relevant to their needs. Thus:
- the product team will know exactly who they are creating for;
- he will learn the user's perspective and find it easier to overlook his own personal preferences when designing;
- better understand what a real audience might actually need;
- it will be easier for you to make design decisions and set priorities;
- you will be able to create strong UX copywriting;
- you will save the time and budget that would have been needed to design and implement completely inappropriate solutions.
Elements of UX persona
It's time to break your persona down into its essentials. Download the free template I have prepared for you. It's what we'll be working on now.
Download the checklist free of charge: UX Persona
The UX persona is made up of a number of universal elements as well as details that refer specifically to your digital product. When running an online shop, you will be more interested in the amount of income of your 0customers, while when creating the aforementioned information service, you will focus more on the sources of their earnings.
UX persona - universal elements
- A few fictitious personaldetails to make the persona real - photo, name, age, gender, marital status, occupation, education.
- Bio/history - the environment in which the persona operates, the events influencing it to now choose products like yours.
- Skills - product proficiency, habits of use.
- Motivation - the goals, needs, desires, problems that the product helps her to satisfy/solve.
- Concerns and frustrations - what doesn't she like, what frustrates her and what does she fear in terms of using your product?
- Personality traits - the main character traits of the persona.
- Product usage scenario - in what situations, places, times, on what devices and how does the prospect use your product?
UX persona - contextual elements
This is the place for additional information about the persona that is important in the context of the product you are creating, such as:
- purchasing preferences;
- amount of earnings;
- interests/hobbies;
- a way of spending leisure time;
- professed values;
- favourite brands;
- respected authorities;
- observed influencers.
How is the UX persona created?
A persona will only help you create a good UX if you base it on concrete data and not just on assumptions. You must also expect that the persona will evolve as new information is obtained. You will revise and refine it. After all, the expectations of your potential clients and technology are constantly moving forward.
OK, but how do you get down to creating your first, baseline UX persona? Completing the template you downloaded above will require you to go through 4 steps.
Stage 1 Information gathering
You can draw information about your target users from a variety of sources. UX research (especially in-depth interviews and usability tests), surveys, your own observations, statistics available on the internet and information from your customer service department will help you.
If your product is already running online, use web analytics (e.g. Google Analytics) and session recordings. Similarly, if you already have some information about your customers, e.g. buying patterns or demographics - consider these too.
Step 2 Interpretation of data
At this stage, you analyse the results collected and identify patterns of behaviour. You notice what users are similar in and create groups. Think of it as folders into which you lump people who are similar in certain respects.
Stage 3 Description of persons
A UX persona will emerge from each folder, representing the common characteristics of the people the group is made up of. How many personas you need depends on the diversity of your potential customers. Some products are so niche that one UX persona is sufficient. On the other hand, there are also those that are suitable for almost everyone and there the personas will be more (the average is 3-4).
If you want to create more personas remember that this decision must have a solid rationale. With so many variables, it's easy to get lost and miss the main needs of users.
Once you have selected your personae, choose one of them as the main one and design specifically with her in mind. Secondary personae should also be included, but to a lesser extent - according to the principle:"You can't please everyone".
Step 4: Creation of documentation
Now you are ready to complete the entire template. You will find a section with a product usage scenario. This is the place to briefly describe how a prospect would reach your digital product and use it to achieve their goals. This will help you understand the main user flows (the paths they take through the product).
When creating documentation, ensure that it is understandable and readable by everyone involved in the creation of your digital product. Avoid specialised terms or explain them if not everyone is as fluent in the subject as you are.
The most common mistakes made in the process of creating UX personas
- Basing people solely on their own guesses. It is a waste of time.
- Creating too many personas. Usually 3-4 UX personae are enough. Having too many of them loses its power because it is hard to focus on all of them.
- Adding a lot of personal detail to personas, such as numerous personality elements. A persona is supposed to be realistic, but not real. It is a certain construct that describes a whole group of similar customers.
- Creating descriptions based on generic streotypes that have little to do with the situation of real users.
- Using personas as the only tool to assess UX. Unfortunately, it's not that good. In addition to personas, test your products, analyse them with a User Experience specialist, track statistics in Google Analytics after implementation. Development and optimisation require it.
Summary
We have gone through all the stages from which a UX persona emerges. Now it's time to put this knowledge into practice. Good luck during the creation of your personas!
If you need User Experience support, take a look at our UX Agency.
