eCommerce Glossary: User Persona

Glossary

Creating an Online Persona That Connects With Your Target Audience

What Are User Personas?

Let's assume you are designing a motorcycle. There are many factors to count before commencing the action. How many gears it will have? What is the mileage? What colors are available? For every right decision of a successful motorcycle, the key is to identify the exact user. To finalize a design for a popular motorcycle you should know for whom you make the vehicle.

The requirement for a 60 year will be different than a 25-year-old. Since users are different, their requirements also vary. The situation is the same in the digital world too like Mobile App, Web Apps of software platforms. Digital products are designed and delivered for real people and success depends on the user. The ability to understand end-user is key to the success of all digital products. So, a user persona is an important step in the digital project discovery phase.

Two people collaborating on web design with connected UI components

Analyzing a digital project for web or mobile to create an outline is essential. The outline of the project like How, What, Where, why is accurately managed. Then the next step is the understand for whom are you targeting the product. This user understanding is the user persona.

A user persona is generally written documents developed to communicate about the user to developers. The key features and goals of the users outline and personify in the document. You can use this information to make project decisions centering around the various users.

One of the important parts of creating a user persona is to be in alignment with a user-centric design. Ideas should be user-centric not according to personal preferences.

A User Persona is an Important Part of Any Successful Product Journey

How to Build a User Persona

There is no hard and fast rule to collect information and also to create a user persona. Follow the key points to set a layout and template to collect relevant and precise data. The user persona is about integrating information to move the project forward. The answers explained in the user persona helps to clear doubts during the project. Below we have outlined the different facets of gathering the needed information to create a compelling user persona for your readers.

Doing the Research for User Personas

A user persona is an important part of any successful product journey. You can design a template to create a user persona to understand the behavior of the end-user. Acquiring relevant information about the user is key. Use the accurate and right information to design the user persona for efficiency. There are many methods to gather information about the end-user and the internet is one of them. Let's explore a few research methods to gather information in a cost-efficient manner.

Interview Primary Knowledge Holders

Gather knowledge from the stakeholders like marketing managers, executives interacting with users for creating a persona. When end-user interaction is difficult or a budget crisis arises then use their inputs. Create a flowchart on the top five users of each department and develop a questionnaire. This questionnaire and their answers will turn into personas at a later stage. E.g. What is the age range of the users? What is your goal in life? Record the conversation or create a video including the flowchart. Ensure that information is relevant and captured effectively.

Interview Users in Person Arrange an interview or meeting with the actual users to gather information. Convert this information into the user persona of that product as they can be a better resource. The method of collecting information varies and depends completely on you. The method could be striking a casual conversation or watching them close quietly. Develop questions like:

What do you like about that app?
Which feature needs an upgrade?
Describe your daily activities?

If a paper process is turning to a digital process then explain those points in the workflow. To improve the knowledge gathering use a template to gather information.

Send out a survey to your users. In case real users are not available then post a survey query or email to the target audience. Share previous user surveys to a selected audience and ensure an effective persona. Design an interactive questionnaire to create personas for the user to answer.

Multiple Sources of Information are Best

In gathering information budget, timeline, and resources are dependent to create a persona. Varied perspective is necessary for an effective n rounded persona. Ensure persona is not created on a single user perspective or data source.

Turn Research Into a User Persona

When you have collected data using a different method then accurately turn it into a persona. We will use these documents to create a guide during the product lifecycle.

Build a Personality

Consistently name your persona for easy communication. Include a photo, contact details, and personalize the user persona for every user.

Include User Quotes

Include quotations and points of view to remember a user persona from the rest. Including users' points of view provides a different perspective towards product details.

Outline a Summary

The summary section includes Age, Occupation, Location, and behavioral traits. Location details give insight into the availability of the internet in any geography. Traits explain the user experience decisions, and age indicates years of experience.

Create a Narrative

Write a narrative in a simple language with a snapshot of the persona. Provide a personal touch while creating a persona so that users can connect to content. Include their personality, skillset, point of view, and daily responsibilities.

Setting Goals

Set realistic goals when you create this persona for a better product experience. Imagine what do the users would be able to do with that app or software.

User Needs

Include macro-level requirements like need specific to create a user persona. If goals are set depending on what users want from the product then need is what the product has to support.

Key Differentiators

There can be multiple user personas combined for a product lifecycle. There could be similarities between user persona as well in a project.