Personas in project work

A new project management tool called "quick solution" is to be developed to revolutionise customers' day-to-day work. But how do you make sure that this tool meets the needs of the users? A strategic approach is needed that goes beyond market research and delves deeper into the user's world. Fictitious but realistic characters can be used to better understand the target group and manage the project in a more targeted way. This method, known as persona, makes it possible to design the "quick solution" in such a way that it meets users' expectations and effectively solves their problems.

What are personas?

Alan Cooper developed the idea of personas in the 1980s. Instead of working with abstract target groups, concrete prototypical users are developed. A persona is therefore a fictional representative of a target group that helps to make assumptions about customers. These personas are assigned certain expectations, values, desires and goals, and display human behaviour. A persona has a realistic biography and characteristics and thus represents the target group without being limited to a single representative of the target group. The creation of personas must be based on a concrete database. The data comes from a variety of sources, such as customer relationship management (CRM), sales, customer surveys, market research, stakeholder information, feedback on existing products or user observation. The result is a set of personas with different names, ages and occupations, each with a detailed biography. In addition to this biographical information, there is other background information such as technical knowledge and expectations of the product. The personas’ desires, motivations and attitudes are also taken into account.

Personas vs. target groups

A target group is a group of people for whom a product or service is or should be developed. Various criteria are used to define the target group. These include demographic characteristics such as age, gender and marital status, socio-economic characteristics such as occupation and education level, and psychographic characteristics such as lifestyle and attitudes. These criteria primarily provide a quantitative description of the target group. What is often missing are the needs, challenges, motivations and actions of the people required for a qualitative understanding. This is where personas come in. Personas help to capture these qualitative aspects by portraying representative characters with specific characteristics and behaviours. Just because two people belong to the same target group does not automatically mean they have the same goals. Personas help you understand these differences and target them.

Personas in project work

Personas can be used in various phases of a project:

In preparation: During preparation, personas can help to define objectives: If you know what the users want, it is easier to define clear and targeted project goals.

During implementation: During the course of a project, there may be deviations from the original plans. Keeping a persona’s preferences in mind helps to ensure that the original goal is not lost and that the solutions developed meet the needs of the target group. It also avoids wasting time and money.

When making improvements: For example, when reviewing and improving processes, the question is whether the process is designed to be attractive and user-friendly enough for the persona. If this is the case, further action can be taken; if not, this can be used as a basis for improvement.

If knowledge of a target group is already available, but time is short, a proto-persona can be used. This does not contain as much detail as a fully developed persona, but still focuses on the basic needs of the target group. However, in order to obtain the most comprehensive and in-depth information possible, and thus to create a precisely tailored product or project, further information should be collected using the methods mentioned above, if possible. This will enable the development of detailed and meaningful personas that provide a better understanding of the target group and therefore more targeted and effective solutions.

Tips for working with personas

When defining a persona, you should stay close to reality. It is important to use only the information that is really helpful in the process. If the persona is too detailed, there is a risk of getting lost in the process and losing focus. Especially in the case of innovations, an existing persona can be further developed to gain new insights. This evolution ensures that the persona remains relevant and useful for the current project context.

Persona: Ann Harris

Biography

Ann Harris is 34 years old and lives in London with her husband and three-year-old daughter. She has been working as a marketing manager in a medium-sized technology company for seven years. Ann has a Master’s degree in Business Administration and is passionate about digital media and innovative marketing strategies. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, travelling and is interested in new technologies and trends in marketing.

Technical understanding

Ann is very tech-savvy and regularly uses various digital tools and platforms in her work. She is familiar with social media management, SEO, data analysis and various marketing automation tools. Ann values user-friendly and efficient software solutions that facilitate and streamline her work.

Expectations of the product

Ann wants a product that is intuitive and easy to use. It should help her streamline her workflow and make her marketing campaigns more effective. Good integration with other tools she already uses is a big plus for her.

Wishes and goals

Ann wants to develop her professional skills and progress in her career. Her goal is to reach a management position within the next five years. In her personal life, she wants to achieve a good work-life balance. She is constantly looking for ways to make her work more efficient so that she has more time for her personal interests.

Motivation and attitudes

Ann is motivated by professional achievement and recognition. She is open to new ideas and technologies and has a positive attitude to change and innovation. Her determination and desire for continuous improvement drive her to seek out the best solutions and strategies.

This detailed persona helps us to better understand Ann’s needs and behaviour, and to tailor products and services specifically for her. Or rather, this applies to all people who fall under this persona. Much of this information can be used to derive what the new project management tool “quick solution” should do and how it affects the work-life balance. In this way, a tool can be developed that meets the requirements.

Conclusion

Personas are a valuable tool in project management to better understand the target audience and to organise and align projects more efficiently. By defining personas realistically and purposefully, and evolving them as necessary, it is possible to ensure that new insights and needs are always taken into account. This leads to better results and increased user satisfaction. In the dynamic world of project management, well-developed personas are useful for successful and user-centred project delivery.

Originally published at https://www.iapm.net .