Personas

What is a persona?

Personas are fictional users, whose characteristics are based on research and project knowledge.

User stand-ins

Personas are used to represent the needs of larger groups of users. They give project teams - clients and agency - an insight into the goals and behaviour of target audiences and act as stand-ins for real users.

For example, the team might refer to a persona to see if a design idea will help or hinder a group of customers.

Part of the team

Normally, 6-8 personas are created and often their characters develop and become increasingly real over the course of a project. In this way they become key members of the project team, helping with priority setting and resolving design disagreements.

Before you know it you're on first name terms.

We find that referring back to personas ensures that the user remains at the centre of everyone's thinking.

Save time and money

You will find that personas save your organisation time and money. They can be developed quickly, bring user insights to life, help in decision-making and in avoiding approaches based on hunches or the strong opinions of individuals. Most importantly for successful website design, personas help project teams see things from the users point of view.