Brief Explanation of Use of Personas in Product Development

1. Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Persona

2. Definition
“A persona is a way to model, summarize and
communicate research about people who have
been observed or researched in some way.”
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-1/

3. History
● Developed by Alan Cooper in the 1980’s
○ Computer programmer/software designer
○ While developing a project called Plan*It:
■ Conducted interviews in his target demographic
■ Method acted as the interviewees
○ Officially used “personas” when he switched from creating
software to consulting
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Alan Cooper
https://www.cooper.com/journal/2008/05/the_origin_of_personas/

4. Alan Cooper and the Goal-Directed Design Process
● Alan Cooper: Advocates 5 significant changes to the conventional methods of
software development
○ Step 4: Define one specific user for your product → invent a persona → give that user a name and an
environment + derive their goals
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-process.html Graphic by Eunice Estimar

5. Goal-Directed Design
● End goal(s) → Persona’s objective
○ Fulfilled by product
● Scenario(s) → narrative written from Persona’s
perspective that describes how it would interact
with the product/service to achieve their goal
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-process.html Graphic by Elizabeth Buttiglieri

6. Questions to Ask
“What do people desire?”
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-process.html

7. Questions to Ask
“Of the things people desire,
what will sustain a business?”
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-process.html

8. Questions to Ask
“Of the things people desire that will also
sustain a business, what can we build?”
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
http://www.dubberly.com/articles/alan-cooper-and-the-goal-directed-design-process.html

9. How to Create a Persona
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Identify Your Users
Decide What To Ask
Get Access To Users
Gain An Understanding Of Users
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-2/ Graphic by Maggie Farese

10. How to Create a Persona
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Analyze The Data
Synthesize A Model Of Users
Produce A Document For Others
Socialize The Personas
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-2/ Graphic by Tyler Brown

11. Persona Creation Template
https://creativecompanion.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/the-persona-core-poster/
● Character Name
● Descriptor
● Quote
● Who Is It?
● What Goals?
● What Attitude?
● Which Behavior?
● Sketch of Character
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese

12. Example Persona
For a hypothetical
financial service:
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Graphic by Elizabeth Buttiglieri

13. Why Use Personas?
● Develop focus
● Build empathy
● Make/defend decisions
● Communication
● Measure effectiveness
*Personas can be misused
Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Graphic by Elizabeth Buttiglieri

14. Social Media & Web Design Elizabeth Buttiglieri, Eunice Estimar, Tyler Brown, Maggie Farese
Thank You