Beyond Pain Points: The Secret Value of Personal Persona Data

A hands-on exercise to level up your user focus

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

Personas are fictional characters that represent a group of users. The main purpose is to give product people a face to work with, instead of an anonymous cluster of people.

Most people understand why information like pain points is crucial for improving a product. However, most people dismiss the value of detailed personal data on personas.

Date of birth, nationality, number of children… Why should I care about that?!

I thought the same way for a long time.

Then, I participated in a target group training. A particular exercise had opened my eyes to the value of personal data.

Let’s repeat that exercise together and elevate your user-centric approach.

The Scenario

Before we dive into a persona and dissect its value, let’s establish the fictional scenario of the exercise.

You are a member of a development team that is developing the brand-new app Ctrl+Stream.

Ctrl+Stream allows its users to manage libraries of their favorite streams. They can group serials and movies in categories, rate them, and mark them up for later.

Your development team comes together for a workshop to discuss and collect features.

Every person gets 10 minutes to collect as many features as possible.

Your Turn!

With the app in mind, take a piece of paper and write down all the useful features that come to mind. If you don’t have paper at hand, list them in your head.

A Persona to Guide the Way

Let me guess: Not so easy, right?

The problem is that describing a product in vague or general terms leaves too many possibilities. The product could go anywhere.

Without focus, our ideas tend to scatter in too many directions.

What we need is to laser-focus our ideas; a tool that makes sure we all go in the same direction.

And that direction should always lead to what’s most useful for the user.

Now, let’s bring focus to your brainstorm by introducing a user persona.

Your Turn!

Take a moment to acquaint yourself with Marie.

Imagine her daily routine, see what she struggles with. Put yourself in her shoes.

Now, update your list:

• Which features still seem important?

• Which features are missing?

• Any ideas on how the software user interface should be designed to meet her requirements?

I am sure your ideas will become a lot more focused than before.

The Underestimated Goldmine

After this second round, what were the characteristics you focused on the most?

As originally mentioned, most ideas come from obvious factors, like pain points or interests.

That’s understandable, as these are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to generating product ideas.

But what about nationality, age, education, or family situation?

This is where the magic happens.