5 Using a persona

Figure 2 below shows a summary of points that we have made already, condensed into a five-step reminder to help you in your own process of constructing personas:

Vertical flow chart with five boxes showing the steps to creating a persona. Step 1 Carry out your own research and observation. Talk to existing or potential users, clients or customers and capture your understanding of what they say and how they say it.Step 2 Condense the research. Look for themes or characteristics that are specific, relevant and universal to the users or beneficiaries. Carry out further research as needed to verify these themes or characteristics.Step 3 Brainstorm. Organise elements into groups that represent your target audience. Name or classify each group to represent a persona.Step 4 Include the broader team in the process. Involve other key stakeholders to ensure that they feel like they own their own influence and contribution to the creation of the personas.Step 5 Develop an intimate knowledge of each persona. Draw on the descriptions of each persona’s background, motivations and expectations.
Figure 2: Five steps to creating a persona

Activity 4

Timing: Allow around 20 minutes for this activity

Now that you have nearly completed studying this module, you should be ready to start thinking about how to use personas to gain insight into users, customers or beneficiaries of your own work. Make an action plan for the next steps, filling in Table 1 below.

Table 1 Action plan for using personas
TasksTo completed by ...Working with ...I will need ...
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Discussion

Your plan will be personal to you, but it should be formed around the five-step guide above to make sure you cover all the necessary tasks.

4.1 Personas: a case study