Analytical Methods
Personas
Personas gives teams a repeatable qualitative research practice. It keeps everyone aligned around visualization & communication by helping you sharing user information within teams or with clients, setting up communication with users, and prioritizing goals based on user types. Grounded in analytical methods, the method turns insight into tangible next steps.
Goal
Visualization & Communication
Group
Qualitative Research
Users
Direct User Involvement
Overview
Personas are fictional characters created to represent different user types within a target audience. By defining characteristics, goals, needs, and behaviors, Personas make abstract users more tangible and relatable. They are essential in user-centered design, marketing, and product development, where understanding diverse user needs guides design decisions, feature prioritization, and user experience strategies. Personas foster empathy, alignment, and user-focused thinking across teams and stakeholders.
Step-by-Step Procedure
8 steps to complete
1
Define research objectives
Identify your key research goals and questions to understand the target audience better. This helps in setting a clear direction for the persona development.
2
Gather data about users
Collect data through different methods like user interviews, surveys, and analytics to gain insight into users' behavior, demographics, and motivations.
3
Analyze data and identify patterns
Analyze the collected data to identify common patterns, trends, and themes among users. This helps in segmenting your users and understanding their unique needs.
4
Create user groups
Based on the identified patterns and segments, create distinct user groups that represent different types of people within your target audience. These groups will eventually become your personas.
5
Develop persona profiles
Create detailed profiles for each persona, including their demographic information, goals, motivations, pain points, and other relevant characteristics. Keep these profiles as realistic and relatable as possible.
6
Create scenarios or storyboards
Develop scenarios or storyboards to illustrate how each persona would interact with your product or service. This helps in understanding their journey and how they approach pain points, problems, and possible solutions.
7
Validate personas with real users
Share your personas with real users from the target audience to ensure accuracy and relevance. Collect feedback and adjust your personas as needed, incorporating new findings and insights.
8
Update and iterate
Keep your personas updated as you gather new information and insights about your users. Continuously iterate and refine them to ensure they remain a useful and accurate representation of your target audience.
Method Complete
Real-World Examples
See how this method is applied in practice
Understanding Deal Discovery Behavior
Research conducted with Groupon users to understand how they discover and evaluate local deals. Participants included frequent buyers in the Food & Drink and Health & Beauty categories, as well as occasional users. The study revealed that users rely heavily on personalized recommendations and location-based filtering, with visual imagery and merchant ratings being key decision factors. Users also expressed interest in occasion-based browsing like "date night deals" or "weekend activities."
Local Merchant Experience Research
Study with restaurant, spa, and fitness business owners to understand their experience with Groupon's merchant platform. Participants included both new merchants in onboarding and experienced merchants running multiple campaigns. Findings showed merchants struggled with understanding optimal pricing strategies, setting deal capacity, and interpreting performance analytics. Many requested competitive benchmarking and seasonal promotion guidance.
Deal Redemption Experience Study
Research with Groupon customers who recently redeemed deals at local businesses. The study focused on the in-person redemption experience, including showing vouchers to merchants, handling booking requirements, and resolving issues. Insights revealed that users felt anxious about merchant acceptance and wanted clearer communication about what to expect during redemption.
Deliverables
What you'll produce from this method
Persona Profiles
Detailed descriptions of the key user archetypes, including their goals, motivations, frustrations, and background information like age, occupation, or education level.
Persona Scenarios
Examples of specific situations and use cases that demonstrate how each persona interacts with the product or service to achieve their goals.
Persona Journey Maps
Visual representations of the experiences and touchpoints that each persona goes through while interacting with the product or service, highlighting both positive and negative aspects.
Design Implications
Suggestions on how to improve the user experience of the product or service based on the insights gained from the personas, their scenarios, and journey maps.
Communication Materials
Slide decks, posters, or other visual aids that can be used to share the personas and their insights with the entire product team to increase empathy and understanding of the target users.
Persona Validation
Documentation of the feedback gathered from real users or stakeholders to confirm the accuracy and usefulness of the personas, and suggestions for adjustments if needed.
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