The Persona method is a way to “humanize” the product’s audience to work most effectively with its needs. The process consists of the fact that several vital personas are consistently created for the product. Each person or character represents a specific collective image of a particular segment of the product’s target audience. Creating a user image will help the project manager get to know their audience better. They will be able to identify better their key issues, needs, goals, and pain points. Ultimately, this will lead to a better user experience, make the product more valuable and attractive to the target audience.
I believe that the Persona method can help in building workflows of product usage and interaction. Goltz (2014) states that the process follows a logical order that begins with the fact that there is very little information about users that needs to be collected. This can be achieved through qualitative and quantitative user research. It is necessary to collect data on current and potential users. Using various surveys, interviews, and tests, managers can get data and use it later in product development. Then it is needed to structure the data to get a complete picture and track the characteristics of users.
The next step is to determine the number of characters. It is necessary to select several groups from the audience the information about which was collected. They can be classified, for example, by age and technical ability, motivation to use the product, the problem that the product closes, and other characteristics. The last step is to draw up a final document for each person. The purpose of such a document is to be clear to any of the team members who work on the product — designers, developers, illustrators, marketers, copywriters-all of them will do their part—based on this research. They should have a clear idea of who they are making the product for and how their role affects their lives. The user image will serve as a guide throughout designing, developing, and promoting the product. With it, managers will make decisions that will eventually become a ready-made interface.
Reference
Goltz, S. (2014). A closer look at personas: A guide to developing the right ones. Smash magazine. Web.