Creating Personas by focusing on your website users

How to effectivelyHow to effectively
focus on yourfocus on your
website users:website users:
Creating PersonasCreating Personas
Presented by
Catherine Elder
© 2009 Prescient Digital Media
1

Who we are
• Prescient Digital Media
is a group of senior
intranet and Internet
consultants that
provide strategic
Internet and intranet
consulting, planning
and communications
services to
organizations of all
sizes.
2

Today’s Agenda
• Complaints,
mistakes &
problems
• Personas –
overview & process
• Case Study
• Personas work
because
• Q&A
3

Major complaints
• “We can’t find
anything”
• “Everything is
buried”
4

Common mistake
• No, we don’t know who our users are
• Yes, we know who are users are (kinda)
o I’m a user…
5

Problem
• Having a website that has grown organically but it
doesn’t appeal or meet anyone’s needs.
6

What do you mean by “user”?
• You may know your users but when you are designing
your information architecture and creating a design
does everyone understand what you mean by “user”?
7

Analogy
• Let’s replace “website
user” with “dog”.
• Is there an image of a
dog in your head?
• Do you think everyone
has the same image?
8

Do you know the Demographics?
• For example, Generation & Values
o Baby Boomers (1943–1960)
 Teamwork , Long hours, Hard work, Recognition
o Generation X (1961–1981)
 Competence, Ongoing learning, Informality, Feedback
o Generation Y (1982–2001)
 Achievement, Structure, Collaboration, Mission
9

Do you know the Special Needs?
• What are the specific requirements?
• What are the special need requirements?
o 15 % of the population has some form of accessibility
issue.
10

How are your users using your site?
• Are there size, space and access considerations?
11

That’s a lot to consider
• How are you going
to ensure that
you’re talking about
the same user
criteria and
statistics?
12

Are you readyAre you ready
to considerto consider
personas?personas?
© 2009 Prescient Digital Media 13

Strategy first
• Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory.
Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.
- Sun Tzu
14

What are personas?
• “.. personas are not real people…they are
hypothetical archetypes of actual users…defined
with significant rigor and precision.”
– 1999 Alan Cooper,
The inmates are running the asylum
15

Persona Definition
• Personas are
fictitious characters
that are created to
represent the
different user types
that might use a
site.
16

Persona’s Explained
• Personas are
synthesized from data
collected.
• They are captured in
descriptions that
include behaviour
patterns, goals, skills,
attitudes, and
environment, with a
few fictional personal
details, including a
name, to bring the
persona to life.
17

Benefits of Personas
• Personas represent a larger group of users within a
construct framework and provide a realistic point of
reference.
• Personas help provide focus and a strong sense
of what the users’ goals are and thereby
provide them direction on how to fulfill those goals.
18

Creating personas
• Step 1: Collect and analyze data
• Step 2: Align assumptions, data and user types with
goals
• Step 3: Create skeletons and rationales
• Step 4: Create Personas
• Step 5: Choose a Primary Persona
• Step 6: Promote their use
• Step 7: Use personas
• Step 8: Review personas before using again
19

Step 1 – Collect & analyze data
• Conduct
o Interviews
o Surveys
o Focus Groups
• Review research
• Analyze website metrics
20

Step 2 – Conduct a workshop
• Have participants
o Write assumptions
 User type & goal, activity or
problem
o Group the assumptions by
user type
o Create overarching goals
per user type
o Align facts & research data
with each category
21

Step 2 – Conduct a workshop
22
Student who
needs a course
to complete a
certificate
Student
thinking about
taking courses
to improve
career
User Type: Students
Goal: Make
courses quick and
easy to access
Fact: 80% of Students
that take these
courses are between
21-25 years old
Write assumptions: User type & goal,
activity or problem
Group the assumptions by user type
Create overarching goals per user type
Align facts & research data with each
category

Step 3: Persona Skeleton Rationale
23
Demographics Represented in Personas
Gender
• Female = 463 (70.5%)
• Male = 194 (29.5%)
4 of the personas are female
1 is male
Age
• age 35-45 = 225 employees (34.2% of employees)
• age 45 and up = 195 employees (29.7% of employees)
Two are between 35 – 45
Two are between 25-35
One is over 45
Location [total employees 657 – 750]
• Ottawa = 350
• Toronto = 276
• Montréal = 13
• Victoria = 12
• 24 telecommuters
Two of the personas are from Ottawa
One is from Toronto
One is from Montreal
One is a telecommuter
Education
• Post graduate & Master = 222 employees (37%)
• Undergrad = 207 employees (34%)
• Diploma (Technical School) = 161 employees (27%)
• HS (High School) = 17 employees (3%)
Two are post grads/Master degrees
Two are undergrads
One has diploma
Length of Service
• 2 years - 5 years = 217 (33.0%)
• More than 5 years = 179 (27.2%)
• 6 months - 2 years = 147 (22.4%)
• Less than 6 months = 114 (17.4%)
Two have 2-5 years
One has more than 5 years
One has between 6mths to 2 years
One is a new employee <6mths
Computer and Devices
• ~ 160 person with PDA
• ~ 300 with laptop
• ~ 250 with VPN access
• 100% MSOffice
Two have PDAs
All are computer literate
One has minimal training (e.g. for intranet)
Bilingual
• 27.55% are bilingual
Two of the personas are bilingual

Step 3: Develop skeletons
• Draft an outline of
the personas
• Conduct interviews,
at least two for
each “persona type”
to collect more
detail and confirm/
remove any
assumptions
24
• Female
• University Grad
• 26 years old
• Currently working full-time
at a bank
• Working for less than 1 year
• Avg. income 40K
• Works in Toronto
• She comes to the website
for course information

Step 4: Create Personas
25
Name Demographics
• Female
• Age – 26 years old
• Education – University Grad
• Location - Works in Toronto
• Currently working full-time at a bank
• Avg. income 40K
• Role – support or management
Lifestyle
• Marital status
• Hobbies & Interests
Generation Y (1982–2001)
•Achievement,
•Structure,
•Collaboration,
•Mission
Key Characteristics/
skills
• Technical skills
• Social skills
• Core competencies
Behaviour
• How often on computer and on the site?
• Travel, mobile or in office?
• Personality traits
Website/Intranet Uses:
• Frequently used areas
Future Requirements/Goals
• Can include personalization and customization
• Any collaboration needs
• Any tools or software

Step 4: Create Personas
26
Name Demographics
• Female
• Age – 26 years old
• Education – University Grad
• Location - Works in Toronto
• Avg. income 40K
• Role – support or management
Lifestyle
• Marital status
• Hobbies & Interests
Generation Y (1982–2001)
•Achievement,
•Structure,
•Collaboration,
•Mission
Key Characteristics/
skills
• Technical skills
• Social skills
• Core competencies
Behaviour
• How often on computer and on the site?
• Travel, mobile or in office?
• Personality traits
Website/Intranet Uses:
• Frequently used areas
Future Requirements/Goals
• Can include personalization and customization
• Any collaboration needs
• Any tools or software
Facts
Web Metrics
Assumption,
goals, data – from
workshop
Persona Interviews

Step 5: Choose a Primary Persona
• Once you’ve
created several
personas one
should be chosen
as “primary”.
• The primary
persona has right
of way, their needs
must be met.
27
Pierre – Project & People Manager

Step 6: Promote their use
• Promote and
communicate the
personas and their
use
o Catchy Names (Rita
Researcher)
o Posters
o Cut-outs
o Cards
o Include them in your
project site
28

Step 6: Use - Why use Personas
• “The idea isn’t to build something that only one single
person will love. Rather, the idea is to build something
with one single person in mind. If you use personas
as a tool to focus on very specific goals, you’ll focus
on a whole class of people – who all share
those goals.”
– Nielsen Norman Group, Adlin & Pruitt
29

Case StudyCase Study
Persona for an Internet Site DesignPersona for an Internet Site Design
CSI.caCSI.ca
30

Problem
• Common complaints with respect to usability revolved around
the difficulty experienced by users in finding relevant information.
• Features of the site most in need of improvement included:
search functionality, design (branding), and navigation, with an
emphasis on making the site more consumer-focused and
intuitive to their user audiences.
• Overall goals with respect to usability were to focus on reducing
the abandonment rate and providing users with numerous
opportunities to find the course or information they are looking
for.
31

Approach
• Assessment
o Research review, metric analysis & site evaluation – Key Findings
and Recommendations report
• Planning
o Developed personas & logic flows
o Developed IA , wireframes & a prototype site
o Conducted usability testing & persona validation with 10 participants
o Modified IA & wireframes
o Created design concepts
o (12 week project)
• Site re-launched in November 2008
32

Personas
• Three personas were defined:
o Persona 1: Looking for a Career in Financial Services
o Persona 2: Current CSI Student
o Persona 3: Training Manager

Persona 1: Looking for a Career in
Financial Services
34
Demographics
• Female
• University Grad
• 26 years old
• Avg. income 40K
• Works in Toronto
• Wants to take the CSC/IFC to advance her career
Anticipated Behaviour
•Debbie will visit the CSI site either by a referral from someone else (incl. HR/Training) which in all likelihood
would be to the home page of www.csi.ca or by searching on Google for CSC, IFC or potentially CSI.
•Debbie’s first visit to the site will be exploratory; she will want to learn as much as possible about the
courses and what her options are. She will be willing to make a long term commitment to learning to get her
designations if she feels they will help her career and her earning potential.
•Debbie’s next visit to the site will be from a bookmarked page – probably the CSC or IFC main page. She
will want to know the cost so she can get approval. She will want to know how long the courses are, what the
delivery options are and when the next course is so that she can coordinate her schedule. She will want to
know how quickly she can complete her qualifications and if they can be applied to her performance review.
•Debbie is willing to take courses in person as she sees it as a networking opportunity but she is also
computer literate and comfortable with online courses. She is also very interested in understanding the exam
process and seeing examples would ease her mind on what she needs to be prepared for.
““Debbie”Debbie”

Persona 2: Current CSI Student
35
““John”John”
•John is familiar with CSI and will probably have the site bookmarked or the URL memorized and will go there
directly.
•John’s focus is on the mandatory IIROC (formerly IDA) CE requirements (30 hours professional and 12
hours compliance every 3 years).
•He will go to the site looking for continuing education courses that will provide him with the most value.
•He works long hours and is starting a family so his time is limited.
•He is looking for specific courses that he can take online if possible.
•He wants to see a direct benefit for his career in taking the courses.
• He needs to take the courses so he can complete them in time to meet the mandatory requirements.
• He may be considering expanding his license and therefore would be interested in insurance, options,
futures etc. Therefore he would search continuing education, seminars, certification and perhaps
designations to understand what his options are and match them to his interests as well as to bank
initiatives
Demographics
• Male
• 36 years old
• University grad; Fluent in English and French
• Working for 5 years; Currently working full-time at Full service brokerage
• Works in Montreal
• Avg. income $79K
• Investment Advisor therefore, he has completed the CSC, CPH and WME;
• Looking to complete his Continuing Education requirements (modules/seminars)

Persona 3: Training Manager
36
Demographics
• Slightly more skewed towards females
• Proficient with internal bank LMS systems
• Works full-time for one of the big banks
• 38 years old
• 8-10 years of related banking/training experience
• University grad
• Familiar with CSI and ICB courses some of our courses i.e. CSC, PFP
• Visits www.csi.ca at least once per week
•Mary has the homepage of CSI bookmarked as she visits the site often for a variety of reasons. She needs to
be able to get a good overview of what courses are offered as well as their cost and schedule.
•Mary sees herself as more of a career manager as she provides employees with information and
encouragement on developing their career.
•For new employees she provides information on introductory programs (CSC, PFPC, IFC, PFP etc.) . She may
email the link to the employee (https://www.csi.ca/student/en_ca/courses/introductory/csc.xhtml)
•She spends time with more senior, long-term employees who need to meet mandatory requirements like
IIROC's CE 12 hour compliance.
•Mary likes to know what is going on within the training environment as well as within the industry – if she sees
up to date news she reads it and she subscribes to newsletters that offer training information and advice. Mary
likes to be knowledgeable about courses so she can offer in-depth advice.
•Mary likes to be able to bookmark various courses and see at a glance the details including pre-requisites,
cost and schedule so she can provide the best advice possible to employees.
•Mary sends out emails to select employees to prompt them to upgrade their skills or to provide them with
training advice.
““Mary”Mary”

Before
37

Conceptual Design
38

Conceptual Design
39
Debbie
“Looking”

Conceptual Design
40
John
“Current”

Conceptual Design
41
Mary
“Manager”

The site today
42

Personas work because…Personas work because…
43

Personas work because…
• People respond to people, they are easier to
remember and reference than a compilation of data.
44
It is easier to remember “John Persona” rather than: male,
generation X, tech savvy, loves video games, travels a lot….

• Personas are generative – people can relate to them,
understand them, acknowledge the relationship they
would have including experience and acknowledge that
they will change overtime.
45
Bethany at 10, 31, 55…

• Personas help a team focus on important aspects of
target users – they simplify the reference points.
46
 Female
 Late 20’s
 High energy, motivated
 Analyst, career focused
 Expert txt msgr
 Outgoing and social
 Has made online purchases
Bethany Buyer

Use personas to:
• Develop information architecture and wireframes
• Develop design concepts
• Create functional plans
• Create content management plan
• Create content
• Create communications plan
o (intranet: Promotional plan)
o (Internet: Marketing/SEO plan to attract personas)
• Develop products, applications and tools
47

Personas are a tool to help you knowPersonas are a tool to help you know
your users and create better designsyour users and create better designs
and content for those users.and content for those users.
48

Strategy provides direction
49
Vision
OBJECTIVES
GOALS
Tactics

Personas provide user focus
50
“Their greatest value is in providing a
shared basis for communication.” –
Pruitt & Grudinol, MS
http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?form=MSHOME&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=personas

Are you readyAre you ready
to considerto consider
personas?personas?

Getting started
• Do you have a strategy?
• Do you want to use personas?
o Collect and analyze data
o Conduct workshop to gather assumptions, facts and
overarching goals per user type
o Develop “skeletons” and rationale
o Create Personas
o Promote Personas
o Use Personas
o Test Personas
52

Catherine Elder
Senior Manager
Prescient Digital Media
celder@prescientdigital.com
www.PrescientDigital.com
www.IntranetBlog.com
www.Facebook.com (search “Intranet Global Forum”)
www.Twitter.com/intranet2
416.986.8800
Available on SlideShare:
Creating personas - prescient digital media 09"
http://www.slideshare.net/cathcontact/creating-personas-prescient-digital-media-09
53

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