{"id":10459,"date":"2017-06-26T14:23:42","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T13:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=10459"},"modified":"2020-12-22T13:42:58","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T13:42:58","slug":"creating-personas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shopjessicabuckley.com\/blog\/creating-personas\/","title":{"rendered":"A Guide to Creating Personas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A guide, not a\u00a0template<\/h2>\n

The first thing a good UX Designer should tell you about creating a persona is that if you just blindly follow a template, you have missed the point. User research should inform the layout \u2014 don\u2019t let the layout constrain the research.<\/p>\n

Put simply, don\u2019t just follow a template.<\/p>\n

Sadly, this advice is not very helpful when you are starting out, staring at a blank sheet of paper trying to create a set of personas.<\/p>\n

\u2018Isn\u2019t making a persona a waste of time? What\u2019s the point?\u2019<\/p>\n

Personas are all about building empathy amongst your team. Great software gets made when the people who make it care about the people who use it. That means during every meeting, when making any decision, in every design and with every line of code, you should first be thinking about your users.<\/p>\n

This can be difficult to do: out of sight, out of mind. We are busy, we are in offices, we have deadlines, and our users are somewhere we are not. Printing out personas and hanging them on the wall is an excellent way to keep our users in sight and in mind.<\/p>\n

Your users don\u2019t go away just because you decide not to look at them.<\/p>\n

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So no, personas are not a waste of time!<\/p>\n

\u2018Where should I start?\u2019 Get out of the building (GOOB) and talk to your users!<\/p>\n

There are lots of different techniques you can use, and I detail some of the key ones in a previous article here:<\/p>\n

Intro to UX Research
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\u2018What should I put in a persona?\u2019<\/p>\n

To answer this question with a question: what is it about your users that your team should know, remember and reflect on every day?<\/p>\n

To answer your question in a more detailed (and longwinded) way, I have put together this worksheet that I use to guide my research:<\/p>\n

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Persona Worksheet<\/p><\/div>\n

To get started, you can download the PDF here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Print it out. You want to be able to write, sketch and stick sticky notes all over it. No section is mandatory and feel free to be creative and add your own sections and questions.<\/p>\n

Start by capturing everything you have learnt about your users from your research. Write it all down. Then review and cut back. Get rid of everything except the really interesting and essential. You will need to kill your darlings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Get others in your team to review your notes \u2014 and don\u2019t be afraid to also show it to a user or two. Avoid the obvious or stereotypical in your notes. It should feel authentic. Your team members need to care about the persona\/s you have created.<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s go through each section of a persona worksheet.<\/p>\n

Section one: First Impressions<\/h2>\n

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Profile Photo<\/h2>\n

The single most important part of every persona. This shouldn\u2019t just be any old stock photo you found by googling \u2018man in hard hat\u2019 or \u2018lady with briefcase\u2019.<\/p>\n

The photo is the most prominent, most engaging part of your persona and, whether you like it or not, the image will colour how your team feels about your persona. No one cares about \u2018man in hard hat\u2019 or \u2018lady with briefcase\u2019 because they don\u2019t feel real.In this box, list the key things and feelings you want the image (you eventually find) to communicate. Often people have multiple aspects of their personality; try to capture the personality they most embody when they are using your app:<\/p>\n