A persona is "a summary representation of the system’s intended users, often described as real people" (Brown, 2011, p. 34). In fact, personas are fairly easy to create.
What makes a good persona
- Represent a major user group for your website
- Express and focus on the major needs and expectations of the most important user groups
- Give a clear picture of the user's expectations and how they're likely to use the site
- Aid in uncovering universal features and functionality
- Describe real people with backgrounds, goals, and values
One thing to remember: personas aren't born from nothing. For them to be representative of your audience, you need to base them on surveys, market research, interviews, etc. (Brown, 2011). "A good persona description is not a list of tasks or duties" (Aebersold, 2011).
Also, don't forget to limit yourself to the main audiences; only create three or four personas.
Persona example
Mark Cohen
Director, Human Resources
Demographics
- 44 years old
- Has 2 children
- Married
- Has a B.A. in psychology from McGill and an M.Sc. in industrial relations from the University of Montreal.
Goal
Mark is looking for different continuing study programs in order to train some employees.
Environment
Mark is mostly browsing websites from work on his laptop, but from time to time he takes his phone out when he get's bored on the commute.
References
- Communicating design : developing web site documentation for design and planning by Daniel M Brown
- Customer Personas: What Are They and Why You Should Care About Them by Kirsten Aebersold