Goal-Oriented Persona Creation

I won't get tired of repeating that technology is developed by humans for humans. Thus, a big part of our cooperation with clients at Viseven is devoted to studying users' personas and identifying users' outcomes and benefits. • What types (personas) of users and customers should you focus on first? (Hint: Who buys your product or service? Who uses it? Who configures it?) • Why would your users seek out your product or service? • What benefit would they gain from using it? • What behavior change can we observe that tells us they've achieved their goal? Focusing on these questions not only shapes the direction for us as a vendor to move in but also determines the solutions we eventually implement and the business outcomes we measure. For example, when implementing a content authoring tool for one of our clients, we worked out the following personas: Internal Content Creators (marketer, scientific communication manager (Medical), patient support content manager); Production Partners (Developer, QC Analyst); Approvers; Production “Proof” Reviewer; Creative agencies; Marketing Operations; Tagging Manager. Obviously, all the personas had different final outcomes and benefits: • Content creators will be able to create new content more efficiently and rapidly leveraging pre-existing templates, text elements, or modules • Reviewers/Approvers will be able to see the in-channel/dynamic version during the approval step, gaining confidence that the creative and production/functional files are the same • Production partners will be able to use a single tool • Production “Proof” Reviewers might not need to review the “proof” anymore since the platform will warranty that the 2 versions are the same • Creative agencies will be able to leverage elements from the Master Design System, helping them increase and maintain brand consistency • Marketing Operations will be able to automate modular content assembly in a much more efficient way Having this final picture in mind, helped us build several hypotheses, list product and feature ideas, and deliver an MVP. What do you think of such an approach?

“Our classes are built for working adults.” “We understand the needs of nontraditional learners.” We hear these statements all the time. But too often, they sound supportive while staying vague. But the harsh reality is that support without specificity doesn’t actually move the needle on retention or engagement. It just checks a box. Even the so-called “traditional” student has changed. They’re often working, commuting, caring for others, or questioning whether college is worth it. We can’t keep designing for yesterday’s student and expect today’s to thrive. This week, I’ll be sharing five posts focused on curriculum strategies for specific groups of learners. But first, let’s start with a practice that should be at the core of every course design process: Student-informed learner personas. A strong persona doesn’t just describe a demographic; it brings your actual students to life. Here’s what that can look like: Meet Susan. She’s a student mom balancing two young children, which is a job that doesn’t always respect her class calendar. Her kids sicknesses don’t fall perfectly in line with due dates. Susan isn’t an outlier. At [institution name], 65% of our students are parents. Or: Meet Jamal. He’s a full-time warehouse supervisor finishing his degree after stopping out years ago. He engages mostly at night and his lunch breaks and values clear expectations and meaningful assignments that respect his limited time. Jamal represents 56% of our students who work full-time. These personas should be built from real data. Not guesses. These personas should include things like: - Full-time vs. part-time employment - Parenting and caregiving responsibilities - Transfer or re-entry status - Career goals at enrollment - Time of day they’re most active in the LMS - Devices they use to access class - Barriers to engagement (tech, mental health, housing, etc.) - Competing priorities And here’s a new standard for your courses: At the end of a course build, you should be able to justify every major design decision based on the students you serve. Not just “best practice,” but actual alignment: “This assignment is chunked into 3 stages because 73% of our students are parents and this will help them jump in and out of the classroom easier.” “This course avoids Sunday deadlines because 62% of our students work weekends.” “This early certificate is embedded because 41% are changing careers and need immediate ROI.” This isn’t about adding bells and whistles. It’s about building with care and clarity. Because the student has changed. And the curriculum should show it. Tomorrow: We’ll dive into specific strategies for supporting working adult learners. Those balancing careers and coursework all at once. #TheStudentHasChanged #Retention #CurriculumDesign #InstructionalDesign #StudentSuccess #LearnerPersonas #ModernLearner #HigherEd

Breaking into new personas in 2025? Here's how to leverage AI to build persona-based messaging. ⛔️ Mistake: Don't wing it with new personas. Don't set up your reps for failure. ✅ Step 1: Gather great data Persona creation is garbage in / garbage out. Feed AI with solid info: - Transcripts of sales calls - Competitor content - Key influencers to follow - Transcripts of customer calls ✅ Step 2: Feed into AI I like ChatGPT. But this can work with the others. Leverage this prompt: Take the attached [sales call transcripts, case studies, etc] and turn this into an Outbound Squad Messaging Matrix. The messaging should be written using the customer’s voice. This messaging matrix should be formatted into a table with these four columns: 1) Priorities Format this into a statement like this: [headline]. [outcome] + [avoid problem]. - Headline: What is top of mind for your prospect’s peers? Imagine you have a dozen of your prospects gathered in a room. All working at similar companies in the same role. What is top of mind for that entire group right now? What trends are they worried about or focused on? What do they want your help with? - Outcome: What outcomes do they want? What are the specific outcomes, metrics, or KPIs they want to improve? - Avoid problem: What problem do they want to avoid? What problem are they hoping to address or solve? Here's an example: Skill gaps & staffing. Find and attract the right talent to accomplish our IT business goals—while avoiding unnecessary costs and project delays. 2) Current solutions Now think about how the prospect is getting the job done. People: Are they hiring, reducing headcount, etc? Process: Are they implementing a specific process? Technology: Are they using technology? A competitor? 3) Problems Problems are what get in the way of priorities. This is what your prospect hopes their current solution will help with. This sounds like: “Manually processing payroll is labor intensive and frustrating for me.” But get to the impact on the business. This sounds like: “Our team is manually processing payroll across multiple systems. We need to hire extra employees just to handle the manual work, and we can’t hire as quickly as we need to. We won’t hit our hiring targets this year.” Help me define the problem in the customer's voice. 4) Aspirations This is your prospect’s desired future state. These should be similar to the outcomes your solution provides to your customers. ~~~ This is for: [company name] who sells [solution] to [persona]. Example clients of theirs are [insert examples] ✅ Step 3: Validate findings with real buyers NEVER rely on AI alone. - Take this to similar personas at your org - Take it to board members - Hire industry-expert consultants - Validate with customers ~~~ Leverage this approach to quickly build persona-based messaging to help your outbound/selling efforts. Was this helpful? Tag someone on your team who could benefit from this.

🎯 Creating Marketing Personas: A Framework That Actually Works Here's how to create personas that actually guide your marketing: 1. Start With Real Data, Not Assumptions: • Analyze your customer support tickets • Review sales call notes • Check Google Analytics demographics • Study social media interactions • Examine customer reviews New Business? No Problem: • Use tools like SurveyMonkey to poll your target audience • Analyze Sparktoro data • Run Wynter surveys for feedback on messaging • Join industry Facebook groups where your audience hangs out • Study competitor reviews and testimonials • Monitor relevant Reddit threads and forums 2. Go Beyond Demographics: • What keeps them up at night? • Where do they research solutions? • What objections do they consistently raise? • Which competitors are they considering? • How do they measure success? 3. Map Their Search Journey: • What questions do they ask first? • Which terms do they use? • Where do they look for answers? • What content formats do they prefer? • Which channels do they trust most? Remember: Good personas aren't about creating perfect fictional characters - they're about understanding real customer behaviors and decisions. Even if you're just starting out, there are always ways to gather insights about your target audience.

💡How to define target audience "You are not your user" is one of the fundamental rules in product design. Quite often, teams create products without thinking about the actual people who will use them. This false consensus effect has a major negative impact on UX. But it's possible to avoid that if you invest in creating personas. Personas are archetypes that describe the goals & behavior patterns of your target users. Persona creation step by step: 1️⃣ Market segmentation Market segmentation helps to identify & understand the different groups of potential users within a market. It's all about grouping users into segments that share similar characteristics. The segmentation can be geographical, demographical, behavioural, psychographical, etc. 2️⃣ Persona creation Once you conduct user research, you can start persona creation. Start with proto-personas—a draft of a persona based on your existing knowledge about target audience. Mark assumptions that you have about your users as it will help you to identify areas where you have knowledge gaps. Gradually increase the level of detail as you collect more information about users. Alan Cooper introduced 5 types of personas in his book "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum": ✔ Primary personas: The main focus of the design. They represent the primary target audience. Your product should meet the needs of the primary persona. ✔ Secondary personas: Users who have additional needs not covered by the primary personas. They are important, but their needs should not be addressed at the expense of the primary persona. ✔ Negative (or Anti-) personas: Represent users who are not the target audience. They help to clarify who the product is NOT designed for, preventing unnecessary features that do not serve the primary and secondary personas. ✔ Supplemental personas: Users who might interact with the product in a more limited way. They help to understand less important use cases. Their needs are considered, but they do not drive the design decisions. ✔ Customer personas: Represent those who make the purchasing decision. Important in contexts where the user and the buyer are different. 3️⃣ Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) JTBD (https://lnkd.in/dZGPZ8kG) is a powerful approach in persona design that focuses on understanding the underlying motivations and needs driving user behavior. It shifts the perspective from WHO the users are to WHAT they are trying to accomplish. Define the fundamental tasks or goals that users aim to achieve with a product or service and focus on the context and motivations behind why users use a product or service. ✔ Understand context: Analyze the situations and contexts in which users perform these jobs. ✔ Define success criteria: Identify what users consider a successful outcome for each job. 🖼️ Difference between User personas and marketing personas by User Interviews #UX #uxdesign #research #uxresearch