Buyer vs User Personas

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
1
March 8, 2023
Tony Quiroz, Director, Strategy
Global Research & Insights Team @GoDaddy
Buyer vs. User
Personas
Mats Christéen
Foundry Wood
FOUNDRYWOOD.COM
UX in AZ Meet Up, Tempe, AZ

Hi, I’m Tony
Buyer vs. User Personas, UX in AZ Meet Up, Q1 2023 – Tony Quiroz, GoDaddy
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
2
• 6-Years at GoDaddy
• Global Research and Insights Team (GRIT)
• UX & Marketing background
• “The Journey Guy”
• tonyquiroz.com

Sketching
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
3
• Draw a picture of a college student
• Include 3-4 attributes/personality traits
• First thing that comes to mind
• 5 minutes
• Asdafds
• Asdasdf
• Asdfasdf
• asdfasdf
College Student: Traits:
• Questions?
• Let’s go!

So different…
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
4
Incoming Freshman Graduating Senior
Also: Part-Time Students, Remote Learners, Parent-Students, Grad Students, and on and on.

Can’t just
assume we all
know the
audience.
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
5
https://www.portent.com/blog/marketing-strategy/3-common-leadership-pitfalls-to-avoid-at-all-costs.htm

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
6

Buyer vs. User Personas
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
7
https://medium.com/swlh/buyers-are-not-users-39cff82631cc
Buyers: Users:
• User journey
• May use pre-purchase (trials, etc.)
• Different types (Newbie, Pro, etc.)
• Success = Satisfaction over
time (JTBDs, 3E’s)
• Shopping journey
• Different types (B2C vs. B2B, etc.)
• Not always the user
• Success = Makes a purchase
decision they’re happy with

Different Personas / Teams
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
8
https://emeritus.org/in/learn/essential-tips-for-strategizing-the-marketing-plan/
https://leapscholar.com/blog/product-design-courses-in-canada-eligibility-admission/
Buyer vs. User

Research -
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
9
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/persona-types/
Proto-Personas
• Quickly align based on the
team’s existing assumptions.
• Internal SMEs.
• Not based on research.
Qualitative Personas
• Based on small-sample
qualitative research.
• Interviews (6-8 per).
• User tests.
• Field studies.
Statistical Personas
• Personas emerge from
statistical analysis.
• Early qual used to inform large-
scale survey.
• Survey data provides quant for
stat analysis.
Lightweight Qualitative Statistical

The Great
Persona
Controversy,
Part 1
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
10
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/please-remove-demographics-from-your-persona-below-indi-young/
Conditionally
Mary
29 years old
Female
Married, 3 kids
Queens, NY

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
11
https://www.bostondigital.com/insights/audience-segmentation-why-demographics-are-no-longer-enough
“The major distinction
between the two is that
demographics can help you
infer what people choose,
whereas psychographics are
used to predict not just what
people choose, but
also how and why they
choose.”
– Samantha Davidson, Boston Digital
“Procrastinator Paul”
“Betty Browser”
“Antsy Angela, 12YO, 6th
Grade Class Trip Taker at
Desert Shadows Elementary”

The Great
Persona
Controversy,
Part 2
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
12
https://productcoalition.com/product-user-personas-a-waste-of-money-and-time-863735549f7e
Say what?

Personas: A Waste of $$$ and
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
13
“Personas are outdated
snapshots before they’re
even created … The
market is not standing still.
It’s a living breathing
organism of interactions
that’s continuously
evolving.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._Stanley_Hall
Harvard PHD, Founder of the American Journal of Psychology, First President of the
American Psychology Association.
https://productcoalition.com/product-
user-personas-a-waste-of-money-and-
time-863735549f7e

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
14
“They’re a gross over-
simplification and
absolutely worthless at
scale … Even the best
crafted personas only
begin to scratch the
surface … they do not
really get to the root
cause of why people made
those decisions within
their environment at that
specific moment in time.”
Remember this?
time-863735549f7e

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
15
“They’re often bound
together with another
time-wasting exercise in
a digital globalized
world — user interviews
… The problem with this
approach is that it’s built
on the premise that users
are going to tell you the
truth … We must learn
what customers really
want, not what they say
they want …”
https://productcoalition.com/product-user-personas-a-waste-of-money-and-time-863735549f7e

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
16
“What should we do
instead? ... the approach
that has worked for myself
is to define our target
audiences, and then seek
to understand the jobs to
be done by each of those
audiences … The focus
should be on continuous
improvement via a build,
measure, learn feedback
loop.”
time-863735549f7e

• Identify top-level audiences and key sub-groups
• Alignment (teams, orgs, clients)
• Deeper understanding (surveys, journeys, JTBDs)
• Prioritization
• Better outcomes
Why Personas?
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
17
https://www.sketchappsources.com/free-source/3795-user-personas-template-sketch-freebie-resource.html
• Good for training and onboarding, too.

Examples
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
18
• Technical Buyer
• Economic Buyer
• Power User Pete
• “The Specialist” Buyer
• Fit-to-Project Buyer
• Dev-Minded Side Hustler
• On-the-Go Business Buyer
• Extra Device Buyers
• Remote Radha

Activity
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
19
https://svclookingglass.com/3557/entertainment/lifestyle/interested-in-buying-a-car/
• Break into groups
• Draw from the hat:
1. Vehicle
2. Buyer
3. User
• Build lightweight personas
using templates provided
• Share when done
Car Buyer / Driver

Buyer Persona
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
20 Buyer vs. User Personas, UX in AZ Meet Up, Q1 2023 – Tony Quiroz, GoDaddy
Description:
Cares About:
Buyer Type:
Shopping Needs:
Budget:
Buyer Photo
Who is your buyer?
• Name
• Vehicle Type (P1)
• Demographics
• Psychographics (P2)
What’s important to
them about the vehicle
their shopping for?
• Must haves
• Nice to haves
• Deal breakers
(P3)
What can help them in
their shopping journey?
• From the automaker
• From 3rd parties
• Online
• Offline (friends, etc.)
Price range: $X - $X

User Persona
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
Description:
Goals:
Driver Type:
Driving Behaviors:
Key Pain Point:
User Photo
Who is your user?
• Name (same as buyer
or different?)
• Vehicle Type (P1)
• Demographics
• Psychographics (P2)
What’s the vehicle used
for? What do they value
as a driver?
• Jobs the vehicle will
fulfill for the driver
(commuting to work,
etc.)
• How (safely, quickly)
How does this driver type
act behind the wheel?
• Approach
• Use of vehicle features
• Use of other items
• Passenger interactions
(P3)
#1 issue with regards to
operating the vehicle.

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
22 https://www.zendrive.com/data-studies/driver-personas-new-behavioral-clusters-and-their-risk-implications

Wrap up
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
23
• Buyers vs. User personas = Different phases of the journey: Shopping vs. use
• They’re not always the same person
• Start with top-level audiences to align and prioritize
• Then do more research (Journeys, JTBDs)
• Consider demographics and psychographics
• Get better outcomes

Thanks, G’night!
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
24
https://medium.com/swlh/buyers-are-not-users-39cff82631cc
Buyers:
Users:

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
25
Appendix
Buyer vs. User Personas
Tony Quiroz, GoDaddy, March 8, 2023 / UX in AZ Meet UP, Tempe, AZ

@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
26
Family Vehicle
Sports Car
Work Truck
Off-Road 4x4
Commuter Car
Impulse
Researcher
Brand Loyalist
Price Sensitive
Luxury
Nervous Nellie
Tech Lover
Speed Demon
Safety First
Road-Rager
Vehicle Type Buyer Type User Type

Buyer Persona
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
Description:
Cares About:
Buyer Type:
Shopping Needs:
Budget:
Photo + Name

User Persona
@2023 GoDaddy Inc.
Description:
Goals:
Driver Type:
Driving Behaviors:
Key Pain Point:
Photo + Name

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