A user persona, also known as a customer persona or buyer persona, is a fictional character created to represent a specific user type within a target audience. User personas are commonly used in user-centered design and marketing to understand the needs, goals, and behaviors of different user groups. Here are some key points about user personas:
-
User personas are based on user research and represent the wants and needs of a subgroup of the target audience. They help in identifying key themes and thought patterns among users, enabling better product decisions.
-
Personas include in-depth analysis of the ideal customers behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes, problems, and background information. They humanize user research and real data, making it easier to understand what the audience wants.
-
User personas are used to help organizations make informed decisions, shape product strategy, and prioritize features and solutions. They are also valuable in guiding decisions about service, product, or interaction space, such as features, interactions, and visual design of a website.
-
Well-defined personas enable efficient identification and communication of user needs, describe the individuals who use the product, and help with strategizing and making smart design decisions.
-
Personas make the design task less complex, guide ideation processes, and help in creating a good user experience for the target user group. They also help the product team focus their efforts and build empathy with real users.
-
Effective personas are based on qualitative and some quantitative user research and web analytics. They represent a major user group for the website or product and focus on the major needs and expectations of the most important user groups.