Evidence That Personas Are Effective



In creating effective experiences, I have always found that developing personas helped our design teams better align their mindset with the users we were targeting. This is often a daunting task especially when faced with  high profile public brands whose message transcends among a diverse user base.

Many believe that it requires a large research investment to properly inform a persona. That is not always true if your organization thoroughly knows their customer and there is no doubt by any team who they are based on experience. This is often not the case. The time and effort required to research, analyze and document personas, should not be underestimated

To further complicate things, there previously hasn’t been empirical evidence for this type of investment.

This research paper was first published in the Irish Ergonomics Review, Proceedings of the IES Conference 2009, Dublin [click me to see].

The scope of the experiment was focused on the effectiveness of using personas in the design process.

Methodology:
The study was aimed to assess and measure the effectiveness of using personas as a design tool. It further tried to answer – does using personas give designers any advantage in designing more effective and user-centered solutions? Would there be a quantifiable usability difference between the designs from the persona-based teams over ones that did not use persona?

Results:
“The study indicates that using personas offers several benefits for user-centred design in product development. The results support claims that using personas focuses more attention on the end-user, particularly in the early stages of the project. Not only does this increase the likelihood of a more usable end product but it also provides a clear user focus at the initial design research and idea generation stages, which enhances the possibility of incorporating user-centred features at the product specification stage. Personas have a role in helping designers to innovate new ideas but can also assist in validating new designs as they emerge. They can provide a valuable user-centred input early in the development cycle – helping to bridge the gap between research and design.”

For a number of years now, many marketers have realized the benefits of using personas beyond the digital space. And today, it is more important then ever to understand the needs, desires and motivations of customers.

Reference:
Long, Frank. “Research Paper – Real or Imaginary: The Effectiveness of Using Personas in Product Design – Frontend – User Experience Design Consultancy.” Frontend.com – Frontend – User Experience Design Consultancy. Web. 01 July 2010. <http://www.frontend.com/products-digital-devices/real-or-imaginary-the-effectiveness-of-using-personas-in-product-design.html>.



2 Responses to “Evidence That Personas Are Effective”

1. Melissa Murray says:

   July 1, 2010 at 6:53 pm

   Great post, totally agree.

   Case in point: http://www.facebook.com/LibbyLiberty organically grew to over 2,000 fans in 4 months. Just 500 fans shy of the corporate page that took 1.5 years and 2M FB ad impressions to reach: http://www.facebook.com/libertytax.

   People can relate to values and characteristics of a brand much more easily if they’re personified than if they’re abstract and intangible.
2. bradz says:

   July 1, 2010 at 7:34 pm

   Thanks Melissa. It really goes back to traditional advertising approach a little with visual treatments. It is beautiful to see the methodical worlds collide and synergize.