The document discusses how to create effective personas to better understand target audiences for educational institution websites. It recommends conducting user research by talking to potential students and others to gather real stories and insights. From this research, specific personas can be developed that include details like goals, behaviors, and needs to help focus website improvements on the actual users. Creating personas grounded in user research helps ensure websites meet the real needs of their audiences.

1. YOU ARE NOT YOUR
TARGET AUDIENCE?
APRIL OSMANOF
@aprilosmanof

2. MY NAME IS APRIL OSMANOF
Nice to meet you.
Hello!

3. For starters, I’m likely not your target audience either.
I work at Fastspot, an interactive agency with a focus on
higher education websites in Baltimore, Maryland.
A Little About Me

4. Here are just a few schools I have been
lucky enough to work with

5. don t forget
The school’s website is not for us.
?

6. There is Somebody
on the other side.

7. A Good Website
Is like a Good
Conversation

8. Focus on
YOUR USERs
How can you best anticipate their needs?

9. The tricky thing about .edu sites
is that they have a lot of target audiences.
Here are some of the big ones.
SO WHO ARE EDU WEBSITES FOR?
PROSPECTIVE
STUDENTS
ALUMNI
& DONORS
PROSPECTIVE
FACULTY & STAFF
PROSPECTIVE & CURRENT
STUDENTS’ PARENTS
REGULATORY
BODIES
CURRENT
STUDENTS
MEDIA

10. PROSPECTIVE
STUDENTS
ALUMNI
& DONORS
PROSPECTIVE
FACULTY & STAFF
PROSPECTIVE & CURRENT
STUDENTS’ PARENTS
REGULATORY
BODIES
CURRENT
STUDENTS
MEDIA
For the next hour, let’s just focus on the biggest one.
PROSPECTIVE
STUDENTSSPECIFICALLY, AGES 14-18

11. What we want
to say to them
But do we know what they want to hear from us?
We think we know

12. To Be a Success
we need to always know who we are talking to
and what they want and need.

13. Personas to
the rescue
These archetypes can be a great way to help
you consider and better understand your users’ needs.

14. guide decisions
about your site
Find out what’s working, and what’s not.
Let personas help

15. GOALSBEHAVIORS MINDSETS NEEDS
PERSONAS
Creating personas for your target audiences
can help you track your audiences likely:

16. COMMUNICATE
INTERNALLY
REMAIN FOCUSED
ON YOUR USER
MAKE A BETTER
WEBSITE
PERSONAS
Can help you…

17. PERSONAS
Help you to:
AND
Don’t project your own mental model on
your user’s needs.
Help create a face for your user, so you can
better empathize with them.
Get a quick reality check on what they are
likely to do or seek out on your site.
Identify problems you couldn’t see.
Surface important edge cases that also
need to be considered.
GET TO KNOW
YOUR USER
COMMUNICATE
INTERNALLY
REMAIN FOCUSED
ON YOUR USER
MAKE A BETTER
WEBSITE

18. PERSONAS
Help you to:
AND
Get everyone to share a consistent idea
of your target audiences.
Help your team remember the unique
needs and wants of the target audiences,
especially as they diverge from their own.
Set up a system of checks and balances
to ensure proposed solutions meet the
needs of your users.
GET EVERYONE
ON THE
SAME PAGE
COMMUNICATE
INTERNALLY
REMAIN FOCUSED
ON YOUR USER
MAKE A BETTER
WEBSITE

19. Help focus your time and efforts on the
right content and features.
Reexamine the language choices made
throughout your site.
Identify effective tasks and content to test.
Set the scope and goals of future projects.
IMPROVE YOUR
CURRENT SITE
OR START
FRESH
COMMUNICATE
INTERNALLY
REMAIN FOCUSED
ON YOUR USER
MAKE A BETTER
WEBSITE

20. HELP YOU INNOVATE
They make your website more useful
and can give you a competitive edge.
Personas

21. But How?
So, how do you make a persona
that can help you do all of this?

22. THOMAS, AGE 16
Thomas, is a junior in high school. He is
beginning to look seriously at colleges. He’s a
good student and excels at math and science,
but he’s thinking about going to school for art.
Thomas loved his high school art classes. He’s
thinking about majoring in photography, but
he’s worried about whether that will leave him
sad, lonely, and unemployed. He comes from a
small town, so big city life sounds both exciting
and intimidating.
He also really loves ice cream sandwiches.
ANATOMY OF A PERSONA
Deciding to go to art
school means I’m
looking for a
completely different
kind of education.
“

23. THOMAS, AGE 16
ANATOMY OF A PERSONA
GATHERING INFORMATION
DIGGING DEEPER
APPLYING
GETTING IN
BECOMING A STUDENT

24. ANATOMY OF A PERSONA
EMOTIONAL STATE
QUESTIONS
ACTIONS
GATHERING INFORMATION
Having always assumed he’d go to a traditional
university, Thomas doesn’t know much about
art school, but he’s excited to learn.
• What are the top schools in my field?
• Do I have to know my major right away?
• What types of programs are available?
• How will art school be different from
a liberal arts school?
• Will I fit in with other art students?
• Visit the website
• Speak to peers and advisors
• Grab an ice cream sandwich out of the fridge

25. ANATOMY OF A PERSONA
QUESTIONS
ACTIONS
DIGGING DEEPER
Thomas is narrowing down his list of schools.
He’s learned more about what he wants and is
now more discerning.
• What kind of career opportunities
will I have?
• What kinds of merit- and need-based
aid will be available to me?
• Does the cafeteria serve ice cream
sandwiches on a semi-regular basis?
• Look into curricula and course catalogs
• Read forums concerning programs of interest
• Request information for particular programs
EMOTIONAL STATE

26. ANATOMY OF A PERSONA
QUESTIONS
ACTIONS
APPLYING
Thomas is serious about attending the school
now and wants to get through the application
process quickly.
• What should I include in my portfolio and
how do I submit it?
• What kind of transcripts or
recommendations are needed?
• Should I apply for Early Decision?
• When will I hear back?
• Contact admissions counselor
• Apply online
• Celebrate with an ice cream sandwich
EMOTIONAL STATE

27. Make it work
Create a real character
and give them a past.
Knowing their
narrative will help you
understand how they
might interact with
your site.
Give them problems,
worries, likes, dislikes.
Know what your
personas expect from
you. What will they be
affected by? What
might they hate or love
about your site?
Good personas need
clear business goals to
drive them.
Do you want more
students to visit?
Do you want more
students to choose
you over a competitor?
GIVE THEM
A STORY
TRUTH IN
SPECIFICITY
CONSIDER
BUSINESS GOALS

28. Gather
real life stories
Don’t just use your imagination.
The more reality you add into your personas the better.

29. THE PROBLEM WITH
USER RESEARCH
User research can take up a lot of time, making it expensive
and difficult to squeeze into a busy schedule.

30. Serious user research
requires recruiting and incentivizing users, coordinating times,
meeting with people, synthesizing information, reporting
what you’ve found, and making sense of it all.

31. good news
You don’t need to conduct really intensive research
to create a useful persona. Doing user research through
personas can be cheap. Even free!
The

32. The Cool ThinG about
college Students
They are all around you.

33. Just TALK TO THEM
Base your personas off of real humans.
GIVE A FACE TO
YOUR USERS
LOOK THEM
IN THE EYES
SEE THEIR NEEDS IN A
COMPELLING WAY

34. GET OUT THERE.
Talk to anyone
who will let you.
Listen, take notes,
and record your
conversations.
Ask the right
questions.
Say thank you, and
provide incentives,
if you can.
If you have emails,
surveys can help you
gain insight.

35. GET OUT THERE.
Talk to anyone
who will let you.
Listen, take notes,
and record your
conversations.
Ask the right
questions.
Say thank you, and
provide incentives,
if you can.
If you have emails,
surveys can help you
gain insight.

36. GET OUT THERE.
Talk to anyone
who will let you.
Listen, take notes,
and record your
conversations.
Ask the right
questions.
Say thank you, and
provide incentives,
if you can.
If you have emails,
surveys can help you
gain insight.

37. GET OUT THERE.
Talk to anyone
who will let you.
Listen, take notes,
and record your
conversations.
Ask the right
questions.
Say thank you, and
provide incentives,
if you can.
If you have emails,
surveys can help you
gain insight.

38. GET OUT THERE.
Talk to anyone
who will let you.
Listen, take notes,
and record your
conversations.
Ask the right
questions.
Say thank you, and
provide incentives,
if you can.
If you have emails,
surveys can help you
gain insight.

39. A Good question
Can change everything.

40. The right question
Can often be the first step in innovation.
AND

41. Bad conversations
Relying heavily on assumptions
Retaining a fixed mindset
Only solving the problems you
already know exist
Wasting everybody’s time
BAD QUESTIONS
WILL LEAD TO

42. Gather better information
Connect with your users in
a meaningful way
Better understand your
users needs
Identify problems you can’t see
Do more solution-orientated
problem solving
GOOD QUESTIONS
WILL HELP YOU

43. TYPES OF QUESTIONS
OPEN QUESTIONS
Will get you answers that
require more thought on your
users’ part.
You run the risk of having your
question be too open.
Can get you to unexpected
places, but they can also lead
you in the wrong direction.
CLOSED QUESTIONS
Will get you very clear answers.
Your users have to answer with a
“yes” or “no.”
But they are not necessarily a
better type of question to ask.
Especially if you are asking
questions you already know the
answer to.

44. NO Leading Questions
Be careful not to phrase your questions
to get the answers you want.

45. Don t make assumptions
Remember, you are not the target audience.
Don’t assume that you know what they need or want.
BUT
?

46. What people
say they want
isn’t always what they actually want.

47. Listen Carefully
a good question is useless if you
don’t hear the answer.

48. Take Your Time
drawing conclusions can take just as
much time as conducting the research.

49. ? ?Try test
try again
if your research or personas lead you to a change,
try it out, and iterate until you’re satisfied.

50. go back to
your audience
find the same people you talked to before,
and see if your solution worked.

51. user testing
on the Cheap
standing over a shoulder and watching carefully
can be incredibly illuminating.

52. Some helpful tools
calendly.com
usepowwow.com
Set up time slots and
book a consolidated
block of user tests or
interviews. These take
time, so give yourself
a chunk of non-
interrupted time.
usertesting.com
trymyui.com
With remote testing,
you can set up a test,
send it to many people,
and watch the tests
later. It’s not free, but it
can be helpful
docs.google.com
rainbow spreadsheets
Set up a script for
interviews and user
tests, thank yourself
later. And create a
rainbow spreadsheet to
keep results and
findings organized.
KEEP A
SCHEDULE
REMOTE
TESTING
STAY
ORGANIZED

53. THANK YOU!
aprilosmanof@
DOWNLOADABLE TEMPLATE
www. fastspot.com/confab-personas.zip