My favorite UX tool is the persona, a fake person based on real data to model content creation and software designs

1. PERSONAS
The bedrock of content
creation & design
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2. Overview
◦ Me
◦ What is a Persona?
◦ Initial Creation
◦ Validation
◦ Regular use
◦ Example
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3. Stephen Morrissey
◦ 1996 Made first website
◦ 2001 Read "Don't Make Me
Think"
◦ 2009 Was laid off
◦ 2011 Started doing UX
professionally
◦ 2018 Attended my first
WordCamp 3@sbmorrissey #WCKENT

4. 4
I
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5. Why
personas?
◦ I have created or updated
personas at nearly every UX job
◦ They are the first critical step in
designing an experience
◦ A solid understanding your
audience's wants and needs
keeps them engaged and
connected with your content and
products
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6. What is a persona?
A fake person based on real data
used as a model for content and
design
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7. Let's break
that down
Fake Person: This is usually not a
person you actually know, but a
composite of different data points
Real Data: Use data from different
sources to create the most accurate
representation as possible
Model: This should be the lens you
design experiences and create
content through.
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8. Persona Example
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9. Initial Creation
Your best guess is actually good
enough to start with
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10. Start with
data first
◦ Start with data and let it shape
your persona(s)
◦ Greatly divergent data indicates
you may need another persona
◦ Capture only relevant data
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11. Data you
can use to
create you
first
persona
◦ Personal experiences with
customers
◦ Anyone with regular customer
contact
◦ Google Analytics data
◦ Public information like census &
crime data
◦ Surveys, both online & in-person
◦ Colleague research
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12. Empathy Map
Framing data in the context of your
audience
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14. You're
already
ready
◦ Running your initial research
through the filter of an empathy
map is enough
◦ Validation is essential perfecting a
persona's effectiveness, but not
for their use
◦ Start using personas now, and
validate when you can
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15. Validation
Checking your work didn't end with
elementary school math
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16. Why and
how to
validate
personas
◦ Your initial guess was a
transformation of your data into
a story about your customer
◦ Now you need to make sure any
interpretations are (mostly)
correct
◦ Similar methods are used in
validation, but with a more
narrow focus
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17. Validation
methods
◦ Customer interviews
◦ Surveys (yes, but different)
◦ A/B tests
◦ Google Analytics data
◦ Comments and feedback
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18. Using Personas
Why did we go through all this
work?
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19. Using
Personas
Content Creation: Always ask
"would (persona) care about this?"
Social Gatherings: Does this
group target the same groups or
use the same approach?
Themes & Design: What are the
latest fashion & culture trends for
this persona?
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20. Using
Personas
(cont.)
Template Creation: Add persona
data and references to wireframes
or templates
Simplify Reviews: Turn a
discussion toward what the
persona wants rather than the
reviewer
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21. Using
Personas
(cont.)
More Research: Using personas
may show where gaps exist in
your original thinking
Social Media: From platforms to
relevant hashtags, use personas to
remain relevant
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22. An example of
knowing your
audience
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24. A broad, but
somehow
narrow
focus on
children
Fred Rogers had a persona:
children with access to a television
Every decision was based on the
question "would children benefit
from this?"
The show's design was based on
"what are children's concerns?"
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25. Revisit and
re-validate
your
personas
Fred Rogers tried other personas, but
none matched the way his original
did
The base persona did not change, but
the times did, and he had to adapt
He regularly met with his audience to
re-evaluate his message and content
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26. Persona
Review
◦ A fake person based on real
data you can use for design
decisions
◦ Start with an educated
guess, filter through an
empathy map, and then
begin using it
◦ Validate when possible
◦ Use as often as you can
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27. Questions?
www.StephenBMorrissey.com
@sbmorrissey
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