Jul 17 2007
Define your target market with personas
It is time to easily and simply define your target market.
Many business owners fall into a trap of running their business only by prior experience and instinct. In many cases businesses are managed without a formal business plan or defined goals. New business owners may have had a business plan they created when they first started but have since tucked it a way in a file never to been seen again. I would like to suggest the creation of a persona or personas to help define your target market. While typically used in web design and usability a persona can be an extremely helpful tool in making business decisions of all types.
Wikipedia defines “Personas or personae are fictitious characters that are created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are given characteristics and are assumed to be in particular environments based on known users’ requirements so that these elements can be taken into consideration when creating scenarios for conceptualizing a site”.
Why should I create a persona?
The exercise forces us to think about our most valued resource our customers! Personas help their creator put a face to client information and raw data while converting it into a friendly, usable format. The process of creating the persona can be very enlightening. I am often surprise by how little we know about out customers. Once created we can surmise what our target market may need or want in a given scenario (or use case) with our persona.
How do I create a persona?
Usability.gov put together a great list of what characteristics to include in a persona:
- a name and a picture
- demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family status)
- job title and major responsibilities
- goals and task in relation to your site (or business)
- environment (physical, social, technical)
- a quote that sums up what matters most to the persona with relevance for your site
Usability.gov also provides an excellent sample of what the end result should look like. I think it is important that you tailor the characteristics to your business needs. For example, if job title is not important but affluence is you should add that data. There are no right or wrong data points to add, remember this exercise is for you.
Resources:
Personas. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved July 17, 2007, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/personas
Personas. (n.d.) Usability.gov. Retrieved July 17, 2007, from Usability.gov Web site: http://www.usability.gov/analyze/personas.html
Excellent article and information. It’s something a lot of people do, get stuck in how they do things, and not look at where to go. I really enjoyed reading this piece. Thanks for the information.