Wireframes Magazine have published my Persona template which we use in client workshops at Orange Bus - available for free!
Personas are a crucial step in our process to keep decisions grounded and centred around the audience. They help to provoke questions which will challenge decisions, helping the whole
team understand the audience being designed for and shaping the design of the site. Templates like these have invaluable to clients such as Family lives, Nexus and Barclays ClearlyBusiness in communicating their audience needs.
As Wireframes Magazine points out, its a great hands on tool which invites doodling while the less-polished feel of the template relaxes clients and lets them share their insights. We've used it recently in a few different ways:
- To understand the wide variety of stories clients have about their audience, to really understand how individuals use the website and discover their priorities. This resulted in some powerful stories everyone understood.
- To get individuals’ perspectives of their defined audience, often with some conflicting views to discuss.
- To work together to complete and get a client thinking about different audience types as opposed to "Everyone is my audience".
Developing a final product which engages with your audience, from customers, to new prospects, to product evangelists requires a deep understanding of their goals and needs. Personas provide this insight to craft a seamless journey for them.
Updated: An alternative version of the Persona template V2 with more focus on goals
