Personas and Storyboards

Todd Warren1/22/2013

NUvention Web in Context•Value Prop•Target Customer

•Basic Scenario

Problem ID

•Persona•Target Market

•Storyboards•Landing Page

Segment Definition

•Detailed Value Prop

• Initial Product

•Customer Trial

MVP

•Revenue Model

•Potential Channels

•Product Refinement

Initial Pitch

Scenario Slice MVP

Contextual Design to MVP

Interviews Models Personas Storyboards MVP

Insight 1

Data

Data

Insight 2

Data

Data

Insight 3

Data

Data

Affinity

Step 3

Step 2

Step 1

Trigger Event

Sequence

PersonaDescription and user scenarios

Goals

Tasks

Value Proposition and User Scenario

Building a “Persona”

• Composite users for your system• Can be for different roles (think end users,

influencer, decision maker, economic buyer) or for distinct types of users (students vs. parents)

Name

Basic Demographics:How old is the segment? More likely male or female? From where in the world?

AttributesKey Facts or attributes about the user in the segment relative to the product

Description: Vivid description of the kind of user

User Scenario:Aspirational view of how they would use the product/interact and receive the marketing message

PERSONA TEMPLATE

Key TasksWhat they do

User Goals: What the user is trying to accomplish relative to the product

Example: Mobile Market circa 2007

many features

few features

92.3M(32%)

social communicators

59.4M(21%)

business power users

15.9M(6%)

organizers

97.9M(34%)

personal entertainment enthusiasts

9M(3%)

infrequent users

12.4M(4%)

device fanatics

style/industrial design highly important

primarily for work

primarily for personal

SCs want a device that is fashionable and allows them to coordinate their social life with friends and family.

Personal Entertainment Enthusiasts like their phones to provide a means for communication and be a source of mobile entertainment.

Productivity while mobile is key for Business Power Users. A device must help them be

more efficient and effective when mobile.

DFs seek the most feature-rich devices equipped with the latest technology. They are focused more focused on communication than boosting productivity.

Organizers tend to use a smaller set of features. They want a phone that allows

them to connect with friends, family or work via voice or SMS.

Infrequent Users view mobile phones primarily as a safety device and as such, use all features, including voice, infrequently.

US/Europe end-user segmentation

Windows Mobile Persona FamilyMarco(BPU)

April(BPU)

Peter(ORG)

Eva(SC)

• Senior manager• Frequent global travel –

multiple language and timezone support• Has admin. assistant –

needs to delegate• IT managed to meet

security requirements (back-door)• Single, active social life

• Field-based sales, has no corporate office of her own• Manages complex LOB

data• Fully managed by IT

(front-door)• Working mother – draws

clear work/personal boundary

• Small business owner• ORG who values some

advanced productivity features• Ease of use and

simplicity are king• No internal IT support,

no servers

• Connecting & sharing with social network • Phone is fun – explore &

discover • Phone is extension of self

– style & personalization• Desire for rich media • Rapid feature adoption

Persona Examples

AlumSocial: An online application for universities to foster connection and

information sharing with alums

Persona: Jeff

Basic Demographics:Age:27Occupation: Business AnalystHometown: East Hanover, NJMarital Status: SingleAttributes•Social Follower•Easy-going•Analytical•Has 200+ Facebook friends

Description: Jeff is a 2006 graduate of Northwestern University, with an economics major. He now lives and works in San Francisco with his girlfriend Stephanie and their dog Patches.User Scenario:Jeff likes interacting with his undergrad friends and hanging out with other NU alums in San Francisco, especially hockey buddies. He wants to learn about and participate in events, but doesn’t have the time or initiative to go find or plan them. He knows his 5th year class reunion is coming up and wants to know more about it.

TARGET ALUMNI USER

Key Tasks• Register•Join hockey club affinity group•Find an alumni friend• Read newsfeed of reunion information•Find events in San Francisco

User Goals: •Stay in touch with old friends•Be informed about alumni events in his city•Understand what’s going on at the university•Find out about his class reunion

Persona: Carolyn

Basic Demographics:Age:27Occupation: Pharma Account Rep.Hometown: Chicago, ILMarital Status: Single

Attributes•High Energy•Social Planner•Super Friendly•400+ Facebook Friends

Description: Carolyn is a 2006 graduate of Northwestern University, with a biology major. She lives in Virginia, works at a pharmaceutical company, takes gourmet cooking classes and volunteers at a local middle school.

User Scenario:Carolyn was very involved in NU campus life and wants to sustain the community beyond graduation. She uses AlumSocial to organize NU alum events in Virginia and was selected to organize her 5 year class reunion. She wants to use AlumSocial as a planning and communication tool to inform the alums in her class year about the reunion.

TARGET ALUMNI SUPER-USER

Key Tasks• Maintain class reunion page• Recruit classmates to join the NU network• Plan an event• Put updates on the newsfeed• Communicate with university planners

User Goals: •Coordinate events with local alums.•Build attendance at the class reunion.•Maintain active involvement in alumni events•Find and communicate with a variety of classmates.

Persona: Susan

Basic Demographics:Age:45Occupation: Alumni Relations DirectorHometown: Saginaw, MIMarital Status: MarriedAttributes•Networker•Organized•Super Friendly•Late-adopter

Description: Susan has been in the Office of Alumni Relations at NU for the last seven years. She’s charged with building alumni engagement at NU through communication, events and coordinating class reunions. User Scenario:Susan is looking for a platform that allows her to easily communicate with alumni and generate excitement around university events. With many other concerns, she needs a tool that is easy to use and effectively manages itself. She will use AlumSocial as another avenue to engage the university community in ongoing communication.

TARGET UNIVERSITY USER

Key Tasks• Update university news• Recruit alums to join the network• Plan events• Gain insights from user behavior analysis• Communicate with alumni planners

User Goals: •Connect alums to the university through social media.•Build attendance at alumni events.•Increase alumni engagement with the university.•Gain insights on alumni experience and wants

Storyboard

• Walkthrough of use of a particular system

• Informal• Usually shared in

common place across a team

• Modeled on frames in a “comic” strip or the way a TV commercial is pitched

StoryboardW

here

to g

o

Co

re T

rave

lers

Publ

ish

Trip

Find

Peo

ple

@ D

estin

ation

Noti

fy a

nd re

spon

d

Plan a trip on facebook with “Serendigital”

StoryboardW

here

to g

o Search LocationEnter DescriptionSpecify DatesPublish on my Profile

Core

Tra

vele

rs Search in FriendsSend NotificationManage Accept

Publ

ish

Trip Decide scope

of publishingSend Link

Find

Peo

ple

@ D

estin

ation Look

through networkFind HometownsLook at status

Noti

fy a

nd re

spon

d Pick friends to notifySend FB MessageManage response

Plan a trip on facebook with Serendigital

Storyboarding Scenarios

• Expand from the data about the user and your canvas and value prop, to develop specific scenarios/tasks your product will solve

• Build from the affinity information and sequences

• Use your “personas” (roles) as the guideline• Describes the process, human interactions, and

UI that surround and envelope your product

Contextual Design to MVP

Interviews Models Personas Storyboards MVP

Insight 1

Data

Data

Insight 2

Data

Data

Insight 3

Data

Data

Affinity

Step 3

Step 2

Step 1

Trigger Event

Sequence

PersonaDescription and user scenarios

Goals

Tasks

Value Proposition and User Scenario