Our methods explained - Part 5: Personas

Procedure

The creation of personas usually involves the following steps:

1. Research and data collection: in order to create meaningful personas, it is important to collect relevant data about the potential target group. Common methods for this include interviews, surveys and observations. The aim is to gain information about the demographic characteristics, behavior, needs, goals and motivations of the users.
2. Data analysis and segmentation: Once the data has been collected, it is analyzed and segmented according to similarities and differences. Patterns and trends are then identified to help define different user types or user groups.
3. Character creation: The analyzed data serves as the basis for the personas. Each character represents a specific user group and is given a fictitious name, a photo and a description that includes their characteristics, needs, goals, behaviors and background information. The personas should be designed to be as realistic and tangible as possible.
4. Use of personas in marketing and product development: They are used throughout the design process to inform design decisions and serve as a reference for the development of user-centered solutions. They help to put oneself in the user's shoes and better understand their needs and expectations. The use of personas thus ensures that products and marketing strategies meet the needs and expectations of customers.

Special features

The special features of persona creation are:

• Relevance: The fictional characters should be based on the collected data and insights in order to provide a realistic and representative depiction of the target group.
• Focus on user needs: The personas focus on the needs, goals and behaviors of the users and thus support the development of user-centric solutions.
• Continuous updating: The descriptions should be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that they still reflect current user needs and characteristics.

Advantages and benefits

The advantages and benefits of persona creation are:

• Understanding target groups: personas enable companies and their marketing teams to better understand customers and their needs, goals and behaviors.
• Decision support: They serve as a reference for design decisions and help to adopt the user perspective and develop user-centered solutions.
• Communication and empathy: Personas facilitate communication within the team and also promote an empathetic understanding of users.

Tools

Tools can make the creation of personas much easier.
Here are our top 5:

• Xtensio: This tool makes it easy to create and share personas. It offers a user-friendly interface and many templates. 
• Userforge: Userforge is a platform specifically designed for creating personas. It offers an intuitive user interface and makes it possible to create and manage detailed profiles. 
• Personas from HubSpot: HubSpot offers a free persona template. Although HubSpot is international, the resources are available in German.
• Miro: Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard that is ideal for creating personas. Elements can be added flexibly. 
• Canva: Canva offers many templates for creating personas. The tool is also free and is also very suitable for other design tasks. 

Ressources

Cooper, A., Reimann, R., Cronin, D. (2007). About Face 3: Die Grundlagen des Interaktionsdesigns. Wiley.

Pruitt, J., Adlin, T. (2006). Der Persona-Lebenszyklus: Den Menschen während des gesamten Produktdesigns im Auge behalten. Morgan Kaufmann.