For internal teams managing complicated websites, it can feel that pressure is coming from all directions. And with a constant barrage of internal business needs and strategies to deal with, it can be hard to stop and remember the people on the other side, the people that have to use the online experience that we are crafting.
When content creators, designers, developers, and higher-ups are deciding when and where to lay their money down (literally or figuratively), it is key to think about that elusive user on the other side.
Persona work can seem hokey at times. After all, it’s where the web world dips its toe into the land of make-believe. But when personas are rooted in research and data and tied to business objectives, there is nothing hokey about them.
Archetypal representations of website users can help bring focus to everyone on your team and ensure that you’re all on the same page. By taking data and giving it a face, you make it more real. And by giving that face real life challenges, needs, and wants, you can better examine the work that has already been completed, and better understand the work that must still be done.
By having your full team look at your site through a user-focused lens, you can start to surface problems you couldn’t see before. Something as simple as changing the hierarchy of content, a small piece of text, or a page title can make big impact in optimizing your site to better meet your audiences’ needs.
At Fastspot, we use personas in much of our work. We begin every project with an intense discovery process that can include surveys, interviews, focus groups and other research tactics. The personas call on all of of that research and allow us to disseminate it to both colleagues and clients in a way that builds emotional connections. They can help a designer who’s never been on site with a client make smarter, more thoughtful decisions in the work they are tasked to do.
For our clients, the same tool can help educate colleagues or new team members who’ve had little or no past interaction with the web. When built in a smart way, personas can help the people on your team forget what they want out of the website for the moment, and remind them that the needs and wants of your target audiences could be very divergent from their own.
Personas can be a constant reminder that our website is not for us. That the people on the other side — the users — don’t just want to be bombarded with our messaging. They have their own needs and wants, and when we do a good job anticipating those needs and wants, our websites can feel like a a good conversation. And, just as they would after a good conversation, users will leave the site feeling like they have been heard.
For a more in-depth look into creating internal personas when schedules and budgets are tight, read my presentation from Confab Higher Ed, You Are Not Your Target Audience.
image credit: Paul Townsend via creative commons