Persona Mapping

3.5 Persona Mapping

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Number four, persona mapping, we are probably at the most exciting stage in the entire UX journey, till now I am sure we have received a lot of different types of data by speaking to different kinds of users, we are going to look at these data now and we are going to sort them in the right segregation trying to understand who all our users are? So persona mapping actually helps us in understanding and identifying the target users of a brand or a business, it helps us look at different users and plot their common interests and frustrations and goals.

So instead of looking at let's say five different users with the same goals, same frustrations we combine the five individuals into one persona. So persona mapping actually helps us in understanding the main features and the main goals. When we talk to a lot of different individuals it becomes very difficult to note down, acknowledge and actually add all the small features and details that we have received from those conversations. So we combine the common answers and common interests into a persona.

So, I have actually done persona mapping based on the user of an ice-cream delivery store that I have spoken about, I also have the templates so feel free to actually take your ideas forward and create persona maps of individuals you think would be the right for your business.

“Reminder” persona mapping is not one user one individual a lot of people actually make this mistake, persona mapping is about group of individuals with a common answers, common interests, a common goal, a common frustration so don’t make that mistake of taking one user and converting answers of that one user into one persona mapping, It would completely become pointless, so let’s see an actual persona mapping happening.

This is the template which I use for my persona maps. It has an image on one side with a name and small details about goals and frustrations on the other side so let’s now get down and actually see a persona map that I have created. The first thing that it would do is give a persona a name and add an image which is corresponding to the name, now this image is not an individual’s image, she becomes the face of the group of individuals I am actually showcasing and representing in this particular persona.

Next up,  I would add the names, I would add the details, here for example I have shweta age 25 lives in pune well in terms of family she is a student and lives away from home and hence she lives with her friends and roommates, occupation well she is a student so she will always be student now.

The next step I would add the about page. Number one she is a student she lives in a shared apartment, she cooks but of course not every day, she does not have a fridge which is an interesting point to note here because does not have a fridge she cannot order a lot of ice cream at one given point in time until and unless of course she is with her friends and everybody has ordered their individual ice-creams, if she alone has a craving she would like to order an ice cream eat it at that point in time because she cannot really store an ice cream.

So my takeaway from this would be that okay I need to make sure I deliver till late in the night, I need to make sure I deliver it in such a way there is no spillage and the ice cream remains intact and the last one is she is a student she is a sort of going to be ordering ice creams from here pocket money so I cannot have over priced ice creams, also I should not under sell and compromise on the quality because there are quite a few options in the town and I would lose her as a client if I don’t give here quality but of course I cannot sell her at very high price.

Now we will look at some of the goals that  shweta and everybody shweta is representing . In terms of goals the first one is that she wants to try out new flavours, she is a student of course and we all love to try out new things right.

The second is she loves to experiment with the flavours so it is not necessary that she would order the same flavour that she ordered last week, she would want a new flavour so it is important for an UX designer to make sure that the flavours at the top are rotated periodically.

She wants to try new options and also after ordering she wants to track order progress, so it is important for me to show her all the information about not just about the ice-creams but about the entire purchase and process of the order.

Lastly, we would look at the frustrations, in reality the frustrations would technically give you more information that the goals, well let’s look at the frustrations.

The first thing of course like we discussed she does not have a fridge so she is not a client who would order a family pack ice creams even if remember even if she is with her friends she would order smaller ice-cream scoops of different flavours because everybody will want to have different types of ice creams, she will not buy to preserve and have little bit every day, that is not the end goal for shweta, of course she is surviving and running her life on a specific budget so she will not end up spending a lot of money on ice-creams, for her offers and discounts play a major role, she will definitely buy ice-creams which are under an offer.

Lastly, she does not keep cash with her, most students don’t in today’s day and age, so I need to make sure I give her multiple payment opportunities and options so she can choose her payment options at whatever point she is. So these are some of the goals of this particular persona shweta, you are expected to create at least 6 to 7 persona for a small to medium sized business.

Finally we come to the discussion time, click on the discussion button below and connect to fellow learners. I am really curious to hear your take on UX design and research. It is also important for you to learn and understand what others have to say about UX research and design.

(video duration- 8 minutes 48 seconds)