{"id":5046,"date":"2020-12-29T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/uncategorized\/how-to-define-a-user-persona\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T06:53:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T04:53:00","slug":"how-to-define-a-user-persona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/how-to-define-a-user-persona\/","title":{"rendered":"How to\u00a0Define a User Persona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As you break into a career in UX, <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-a-persona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">user personas<\/a> are one tool you\u2019ll certainly want to have available as you <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/a-5-point-roadmap-for-any-research-project\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gather user research<\/a> and find design solutions to solve problems and create more human-friendly products and experiences.<\/p>\n<p>In this guide, CareerFoundry UX design mentor Raven Veal teaches you how to define a user persona, step by step. Here\u2019s what she\u2019ll cover:<\/p>\n<p>1. <a href=\"#what-is-a-user-persona\">What is a user persona?<\/a><br \/>\n2. <a href=\"#why-do-you-need-a-persona\">Why do you need a persona?<\/a><br \/>\n3. <a href=\"#how-do-you-define-a-user-persona\">How do you define a user persona?<\/a><br \/>\n4. <a href=\"#additional-suggestions\">Additional suggestions<\/a><br \/>\n5. <a href=\"#final-thoughts\">Final thoughts<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you want to <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-user-experience-ux-design-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">find out more about UX Design<\/a>, check out our free online starter course here: <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/short-courses\/become-a-ux-designer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CareerFoundry UX Design for Beginners Course<\/a>. And here\u2019s our video guide on how to create a user persona:<\/p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }<\/style>\n<div class=\"embed-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DvV7ZcRVQ4g\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 20px; width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<h2 id=\"what-is-a-user-persona\">1. What is a user persona?<\/h2>\n<p>A user persona is a fictional representation of your ideal customer. As a UX designer, you\u2019ll start the <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/design-thinking-process\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">design process<\/a> by conducting user research<strong>\u2014<\/strong><a href=\"\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-empathy-in-design-thinking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">building empathy<\/a> with your target users and identifying exactly what they need from the product you\u2019re designing. A persona is generally based on this user research and incorporates the needs, goals, and observed behavior patterns of your target audience. Check out the example below:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Example Of A User Persona\" src=\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/old-blog-uploads\/example-ux-design-user-persona.jpg\" alt=\"Example Of A User Persona\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-do-you-need-a-persona\">2. Why do you need a persona?<\/h2>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re developing a smartphone app or a mobile-responsive website, it\u2019s very important to understand who will be using the product. In order to solve a real user problem, you need to have a <a href=\"\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/stage-two-design-thinking-define-the-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">clear problem statement<\/a> in mind; in order to write this problem statement, you first need to understand your users and their needs.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing your audience will help influence the features and design elements you choose, thus making your product more useful. A persona clarifies who is in your target audience by answering the following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Who is my ideal customer?<\/li>\n<li>What are the current behavior patterns of my users?<\/li>\n<li>What are the needs and goals of my users?<\/li>\n<li>What issues and pain points do they currently face within the given context?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Understanding the needs of your users is vital to developing a successful product. Well-defined personas will enable you to efficiently identify and communicate user needs. Personas will also help you describe the individuals who use your product, which is essential to your overall value proposition.<\/p>\n<p>Personas help with strategizing and making smart design decisions. They make real users memorable for the product team, helping to focus efforts and build empathy.<\/p>\n<p>And it&#8217;s good to note that personas are also important to have when you&#8217;re <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/how-to-conduct-a-ux-audit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conducting a UX audit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Different User Personas Give You Insights For Product Design\" src=\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/old-blog-uploads\/definition-multiple-different-personas.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait gallery of different user personas with colorful backdrops\" width=\"1200\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So, in a nutshell, user personas are crucial if you want to design something that is useful, desirable, and valuable to your target audience. A solid user persona is your northern star, guiding your design decisions from start to finish.<\/p>\n<p>Not only that. Most designers work in multidisciplinary teams where it\u2019s important to communicate your findings from the user research stage. Personas encompass all the essential details about your users, presenting them in a memorable way that everyone can understand\u2014not just designers.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-do-you-define-a-user-persona\">3. How do you define a user persona?<\/h2>\n<p>A well-defined user persona contains four key pieces of information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Header<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Demographic profile<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>End goal(s)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Scenario<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Before you create a persona, conduct plenty of research to make sure your personas accurately represent your users. After you gather an adequate amount of both qualitative and quantitative data, organize the information into persona groups that represent your ideal customers. Remember to focus on the major needs of the most important user groups\u2014you can\u2019t be everything to everyone, nor should you try to be!<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve got your user groups, you can turn them into user personas. Let\u2019s take a look at the four steps that go into creating a user persona.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"step-1-add-a-header\">Step 1: Add a header<\/h3>\n<p>The header includes a fictional name, image, and quote that summarizes what matters most to the persona as it relates to your product. These features aid in improving memorability and keeping your design team focused on the users they are building the product for.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s imagine you\u2019re designing a travel app. The foundations of your user persona could look like this:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Name:<\/strong> Savannah Rodriguez<br \/>\n<strong>Summary quote:<\/strong> \u201cTake me to undiscovered holiday destinations away from the tourist traps.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This first step might seem simple, but these features ensure that your persona is memorable, keeping the design team focused on who they are designing for.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"step-2-add-a-demographic-profile\">Step 2: Add a demographic profile<\/h3>\n<p>While the name and image can be fictional, demographic details are factual and based on user research. The demographic profile includes four main sections: personal background, professional background, user environment, and <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/digital-marketing\/psychographics-digital-marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">psychographics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"personal-background\">Personal background<\/h4>\n<p>The personal background includes details such as age, gender, ethnicity, education, persona group (e.g. working moms), and family status (e.g. single, married with children, widowed, etc.).<\/p>\n<p>Savannah\u2019s personal background might be described as follows: Savannah, 52 years old, a divorced mother of two, has a Master\u2019s degree in chemistry.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"professional-background\">Professional background<\/h4>\n<p>The professional background includes details such as job occupation, income level, and work experience. Here we might add that Savannah works full-time at a pharmaceutical company and earns around $65,000 per year.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"user-environment\">User environment<\/h4>\n<p>The user environment represents the physical, social, and technological context of the user. This section is used to answer questions like: What technological devices do users have access to? Do they spend most of their time in a corporate office or a home office? And how often do they collaborate with others? So, Savannah\u2019s user environment could be in her office, mostly on a laptop, but also on her iPad when commuting to and from work.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"psychographics\">Psychographics<\/h4>\n<p>Psychographics include details such as attitudes, interests, motivations, and pain points. Creating a psychographic profile enables you to better understand why your user behaves in a certain way\u2014including why they use your product.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s continue to imagine you\u2019re designing a holiday-booking app. Some useful psychographic information to include in your user persona could be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Savannah enjoys luxury spa retreats, hates tourist traps<\/li>\n<li>Appreciates an element of exclusivity<\/li>\n<li>Enjoys trying authentic local cuisine<\/li>\n<li>Prefers to travel alone or with one other person<\/li>\n<li>Tends to favor quality over economy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, the demographic profile adds an additional layer of realism to a user persona, boosting empathy when exploring user needs and goals.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" title=\"Demographic Profiles For Defining User Personas\" src=\"\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/old-blog-uploads\/what-are-personas-fictitious-users-example.jpg\" alt=\"Profile gallery of different user personas with colorful backdrops\" width=\"1200\" height=\"500\" \/><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"step-3-add-end-goals\">Step 3: Add end goal(s)<\/h3>\n<p>The end goal is the motivating factor that inspires action, and answers the question: what do users want or need to accomplish by using your product? End goals are the main driving forces of your users and determine what the persona wants or needs to fulfill.<\/p>\n<p>In Savannah\u2019s case, her end goal when using your holiday-booking app is to discover and book luxurious, off-the-beaten-track holiday destinations.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"step-4-add-a-scenario\">Step 4: Add a scenario<\/h3>\n<p>A scenario is a \u201cday-in-the-life\u201d narrative that describes how a persona would interact with your product in a particular context to achieve his or her end goal(s). The scenario usually defines when, where, and how the narrative takes place. They are typically written from the perspective of the persona and describe use cases that may happen in the future.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Savannah\u2019s scenario could start off like this:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt least once a year, I like to go away on a luxury holiday. I try to discover places I\u2019ve never been to before and to stick to destinations that aren\u2019t yet overrun with tourists. I work full time, so I don\u2019t have that much time to browse and book each individual element of my holiday. Ideally, I\u2019ll find some kind of package deal that comes with local restaurant recommendations\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This step integrates well with <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-a-customer-journey-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer journey maps<\/a>; learn how to build one, <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/how-to-make-customer-journey-map-with-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"additional-suggestions\">4. Additional suggestions<\/h2>\n<p>Each user persona is typically one page, which requires you to focus on the essential elements. As a rule of thumb, avoid adding extra details that cannot be used to influence the design. If it does not affect the final design or help make any decisions easier: omit it.<\/p>\n<p>Personas are also key to finding ideal customers in real life so you can test and validate your product with real people. Therefore, make sure each persona is specific and realistic: avoid exaggerated caricatures, and include enough detail to help you find real-life representation.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"final-thoughtsnbsp\">5. Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>In response to shorter project timelines, personas are the go-to method for rapidly identifying user needs. By using real data to develop archetypical users, teams can design for personas with the confidence that they will also meet the needs of the broader consumer base.<\/p>\n<p>When creating user personas, remember to focus on the context of the <a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-ux-designer-and-a-product-designer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">product you\u2019re designing<\/a>. While you <em>do<\/em> want to build up a realistic character, there\u2019s no need to include pointless details that <em>won\u2019t<\/em> influence the final design. If you\u2019re designing a holiday-booking app, it doesn\u2019t make sense to include information on Savannah\u2019s favorite TV programs or what football team she supports. So, only include details that serve a design purpose!<\/p>\n<p>Overall, personas are helpful throughout the entire product development phase: from deciding on which features to have in a prototype, to evaluating the end product. When combined with additional user experience design methods, such as usability testing and task analyses, personas are vital to launching a useful and usable solution. Now you know all about user personas, you may be interested in the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/persona-spectrums\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What are user persona spectrums<\/a>?<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/how-to-create-a-user-flow\/\">How to create a user flow<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/personas-vs-jtbd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">User personas vs. jobs-to-be-done: What\u2019s the difference and when to use them<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/voice-design-personas-placeonas\/\">What are voice personas and placeonas?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nngroup.com\/articles\/persona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Personas Make Users Memorable<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.measuringu.com\/blog\/personas-ux.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">7 Core Ideas About Personas<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s an excellent step-by-step guide to defining and creating your user persona. First of all, we&#8217;ll explain the meaning and purpose of a user persona, and then we&#8217;ll explain exactly how to go about making one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux-design"],"acf":{"homepage_category_featured":false,"cards_inner_programs_lists_left":"","cards_inner_programs_lists_right":"","related_plan_cards":""},"modified_by":"Rash SEO","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5046"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27846,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5046\/revisions\/27846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}