HOW SHOULD PRODUCT MANAGERS DEFINE CUSTOMER PERSONAS?
HOW SHOULD PRODUCT MANAGERS DEFINE CUSTOMER PERSONAS?
Product managers must make informed decisions about who their customers are, what they need, and how their product provides a solution. Personas are fictional characters that help product managers make these decisions and guide how the team will build features that customers love.
There are two main types of customer personas — buyers and users.
Buyer personas represent the ideal profile of a potential buyer, providing insights about the people who decide to purchase your product or service. User personas represent the people who directly use your product, bringing them to life in a memorable way that everyone can understand. The buyer and user may be the same person — but they will have different priorities based on their user persona and their buyer persona.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF USER PERSONAS?
The main purpose of a user persona is to create empathy for customers. Understanding and relating to what matters to your customers is an essential part of product management. This requires ongoing research about target user segments so you can build an informed roadmap.
KEY BENEFITS OF DEFINING USER PERSONAS:
- Explain the “why” behind product decisions
- Focus on the needs of the most important user groups
- Prioritize features that solve actual user problems
- Implement new functionality in line with how customers will actually use it
HOW TO CREATE USER PERSONAS
1. Understand who will use your product
Personas must be as truthful as possible, so it is important to spend time learning as much as possible about your target users. What is their role? How long have they been in their industry? What are their likes and dislikes? This information helps you envision a typical user and view your product from their perspective.
Types of information that can be useful to gather:
- Personal background: Age, education, and location
- Professional background: Job title, income level, skills, responsibilities, and experience
- Psychographic information: Goals, challenges, likes, and dislikes
Group your typical users
You will most likely need to create multiple personas to represent different groups of users. Once you have gathered sufficient data, look for distinct characteristics and behavior patterns.Build out a user persona template
Give each persona a name and select an image to represent and make your persona memorable. Then, write up an overview that distills the essential elements of their background and preferences.Share user personas with the team
Once created, share your personas with key members in your organization. Associating personas with your goals, initiatives, releases, and features will keep your customers top of mind and present in everything you do.
Well-crafted personas are a great way to communicate research about your target customers. These are useful reminders of the ultimate purpose of your product — to serve the needs of real people.
Want to work with us?
Have this interesting project and you would like to partner with us? Give us a call today.
Contact us today!