data driven design research
personas
Todd Zaki Warfel, Messagefirst

“A persona is a user archetype you can
use to help guide decisions about
product features, navigation,
interactions, and even visual design.”
- Kim Goodwin, Cooper

“A persona is a user archetype you can
use to help guide decisions about
product features, navigation,
interactions, and even visual design.”
- Kim Goodwin, Cooper

Personas are a representative behavior
and activity profile that are contextual
and specific to the particular
application or service.

Personas are a representative behavior
and activity profile that are contextual
and specific to the particular
application or service.

Why use them?

The average
user doesn’t
exist.

They keep you
out of user.

They keep you
out of user.

As a design research tool, they are a
powerful way to communicate
knowledge, activities, interests,
influencers, goals, and pain points.

As a design research tool, they are a
powerful way to communicate
knowledge, activities, interests,
influencers, goals, and pain points.

Design research
personas can be
used for design

They can be used
for research

Design research
personas can be
used for recruiting

Design research
personas can be
used for training

Tips for making
better data-driven
personas.

Multiple sources
keep things in
balance.

Internal sources
can be stake
holders, web
analytics, and
customer
support.

External sources
can be customers
and someone you
know.

Basing them on
someone you
know keeps them
grounded and
more realistic.

Only build what
you need.

Getting it all
on one page
is tricky.

Not bad. But
there’s a better
way.

Do
Te ma
in
ch
no K n
o
lo
Lifecycle
gy wle
Kn dg
ow e
le
Ex dg
pe e
r ie
nc
e
Knowledge
1
2
3
4
5
Ev
er
Ju gre
e
Fin st-in n
-
d
a M Tim
or e
tg
a
Re ge
fin
an
c
In
su e
Fin ra
n
d
a L ce
en
d
Ad er
Fin ver
Activities and Interest
d tis
aR e
ea
Ca lto
lcu r
la
to
rs

Make sure you
test and validate
your personas.

Reality check.

Are they someone
you know?

I think we did
lunch.

I talked to him
on the phone
last week.

Common
Mistakes

Marketing vs.
design research
personas

Large sets

Too much
personal
information

The recycle trap

Not used
throughout
the process

data driven design research
personas
Todd Zaki Warfel, Messagefirst