A Masters in Psychology class presentation on discovering the core needs of a website's users in order to better optimize the user interface.

1. PERSONA RESEARCH
TO D I S C OV E R
WEBSITE NEEDS

2. Persona research is about
defining the personality
and needs of your users.
It is then interpreted by
Information Architects.

3. Information Architecture:
The Socialist Party for the Web

4. What the Hell is
Information Architecture?
Information Architects define the User Experience.
• Building a complete system
• Understanding the big picture
• Developing an engaging system
• Fluid and elegant to use
• Focused on the needs of its intended audience

5. The Information Architecture Process
Defining the user experience:
• Develop a persona to best understand the
audience
• Match audience goals with service offering,
features and functionality
• Map structure of content to follow the user’s
needs
• Develop Interface to support audience goals

6. Data Pattern Mapping
IA organizes the patterns of data by six types:
• alphabetical
• chronological
• geographical
• task oriented
• audience specific
• metaphor

7. Persona Research for Task Flow

8. Assignment:
Create an online experience for the process of acquiring
digital rights to music for commercial use.

9. The Seeker
Age: 36
Education: Bachelors in Liberal Arts
Occupation: Editorial Director
Employer: American Greetings
Location: Cleveland
Motivation: Thoroughness
Product Use: Signing Greeting Cards
Sites Used: iTunes, Google, Amazon
Price Conscious
Rights Knowledge
GreenLight Usage
Savviness
Expediency
“If I can only get this
Use Cases:
•Price a song that was selected by the Art
Department to be used in an audio-greeting
process down to just one
card.
•Have a backup song selected in case the rights
click rather than jumping
for the first choice fall through.
through fifty hoops.”

10. The Drifter
Age: 24
Education: in College
Occupation: Assistant
Employer: Chase Manhattan
Location: New York
Motivation: Please the Boss
Product Use: Presentation Soundtrack
Sites Used: Blogs, iTunes, Amazon.com, Pandora
Price Conscious
Rights Knowledge
GreenLight Usage
Savviness
Expediency
Use Cases:
•Need suggestions for an intro and outro track
to use for a company presentation that will be
“This better not make any
posted on YouTube.
•Larah needs to understand the process and
headaches for me trying to go
costs for clearing the rights, and then run it by
her boss. the legit route.”

11. Answer: Make it Quick.
The steps required needed to be minimized as much as possible,
even over additional functionality that does not map with expediency
in the flow.

12. Persona Research for Social Psychology

13. Assignment:
Introduce a Spanish brand’s low-cost online bank into
the German market.

14. “Money is a creature of
the law. A theory of
money must therefore
deal with legal history.”
- George Knapp
German Economist

15. Germans have been negatively
influenced by their history of
autocratic rule and
hyperinflation.
The result in banking has been
large, institutional corporate
banks and credit union retail
banks.

16. Imagery used on German banks reflect this by over-emphasizing
themselves as established.

17. Answer: Don’t look like a bank.
Success will rely on attracting a different audience, born after
1985, without the stigmas and can relate to an online look instead.

18. Persona Research for User Needs

19. Persona Research for User Needs
Assignment:
Create an online reference tool for employees to learn
strategies for investing in their 401k accounts.

20. Finding Patterns in Data
Non-Investor Investor
“I want my money now” “I want to retire comfortably”
“I won’t have enough for now” “I won’t have enough for the future”
“What are the benefits “Have I covered all of my bases?”
and drawbacks?”
“Why should I trust
“Will you meet my needs?”
you with my money?”
“I can take care of myself ” “I want to be well taken care of ”

21. Finding Patterns in Data
Non-Investor Investor
“I want my money now” Ambitious “I want to retire comfortably”
“I won’t have enough for now” Fearful “I won’t have enough for the future”
“What are the benefits
and drawbacks?” Uninformed “Have I covered all of my bases?”
“Why should I trust
you with my money?” Skeptical “Will you meet my needs?”
“I can take care of myself ” Optimistic “I want to be well taken care of ”

22. Answer: Organize data in a way they can relate to it.
The profiles selected from the top reflect one of the five common
personality types of skeptical, optimistic, ambitious, etc.

23. Persona Research to Define Motivation

24. Assignment:
Increase usage for a user-to-user betting website.

25. Old Target Audience:
The Lad
• Looking for a little extra cash
• Will only bet if they are feel
they know the outcome
• Will only bet on occasion
• Prefer to bet with friends

26. New Target Audience:
The Professional
• Make a majority of their living
from betting
• Think they can control the
future by what they bet on
• Make several bets a day
• Prefers to bet with strangers

27. Answer: Give them control.
An interface that feeds to the Professional’s desire to “control their
future” by providing controls of statistical analysis.

28. Persona Research to Define Audiences

29. Assignment:
Update a leading healthcare site to be easier to use and
branded in a way to be fresher and uplifting.

30. By surveys and focus groups, we were able to ascertain the main
motivations, needs and methods the various audiences use the
website.
Which of the following features would you be likely to
Information about health news
Information about my benefits/health plan
Information about which drugs are covered by CareOregon
Ability to submit forms online
Blogs on health and healthy industry topics
Live chat/instant messaging with CareOregon staff
Feature stories about CareOregon members
Information about community events and programs
Stories about CareOregon providers
Access to support networks for chronic conditions
Ability to exchange information with other site visitors
Information about CareOregon health plans
Tips on staying healthy
Educational videos and presentations
Discussion boards
Other
0 14 28 42 56 70

31. MEMBERS
In the last 30 days, how often did you access the Internet?
How often do you use the internet to find health-related information?

32. Being a Medicaid and Medicare provider, most members for
example, do not have jobs and are accessing the internet from
home or only on occasion from alternative sources.
MEMBERS
library
home
cell phone
no access
other
work

33. A rich diversity of users was discovered
with distinct audience needs.

34. Answer: Reflect the audience.
CAREOREGON
For For Our Health & Transforming About Contact
Members Providers Health Plans Wellness Healthcare Us Us
The navigation and design was made to represent each user type
for them to easily identify with the CareOregon and their needs.

35. Answer: Reflect the audience.
The navigation and design was made to represent each user type
for them to easily identify with the CareOregon and their needs.

36. About Perfect Pixels
Our background has provided us a unique perspective on meeting
brand with user experience, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

37. Services
Our capabilities include top-to-bottom support for our clients -
from brand strategy and design to enterprise web development.
Brand Strategy
Identity Design Usability Testing
Online Marketing Video Post Production
Information Architecture HTML & Flash Production
Web Design Web Development
Content Development

38. Virgin sample work

39. Microsoft

40. Classmates.com sample work

41. All Recipes.com

42. Thank You.
Jason@perfectpixels.com
or twitter/perfectpixels