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How to Create a Persona in 6 Steps

Author:: Paul Boag
Published:: 18 March 2021
Categories:: How To Guides Digital Insights Digital Marketing User Experience
Reading time:: 1 minutes

Better understand your audience and ensure that their needs are not forgotten.

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Table of Content

1. Gather what your organisation knows about your users.
2. Review the information gathered and identify the characteristics of users.
3. Carry out user research to plug gaps in your knowledge.
4. Apply the information you have learned to the following template.
5. Take the basic persona above and apply the visual design.
6. Use your persona often

1. Gather what your organisation knows about your users.

You can do this by speaking to customer-facing staff, analysing analytics, reviewing previous research and looking at customer correspondence.

2. Review the information gathered and identify the characteristics of users.

Check that you have the following information:

— The User’s Questions
— The User’s Objections
— The User’s Tasks
— What Influences the User
— The User’s State of Mind
— The User’s Ultimate Goal
— The Pain Points the User Needs Help Overcoming

3. Carry out user research to plug gaps in your knowledge.

User research can involve user interviews, surveys, journey mapping and various forms of observation.

4. Apply the information you have learned to the following template.

Map out the information you have gathered onto a wireframe of your persona.

5. Take the basic persona above and apply the visual design.

Get a designer or use a tool like UXPressia to turn your wireframe into an attractive design asset.

6. Use your persona often

A persona is of no use unless it is used regularly. Take it into meetings, display it on the wall in your offices or include it in relevant documents. Do not let it sit in a drawer unused.

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I’m a UX consultant and conversion optimization specialist with 32 years in digital. I help teams create user experiences that work; winning support, improving results, and making change stick.

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