The Persona allows you to put a face and a name to a customer segment. The tool helps you step inside the customer's world and discover what is most important to them. Use it develop a profile of each key customer segment you have.
Why we like it
A persona removes the assumptions and changing opinions that can sometimes dominate internal business discussions about what a customer really needs. It establishes a single picture with tangible, relevant insights that can be tested with real customers. It also creates a common language for all teams to work from.
LICENCE: Creative Commons
How to use it
The Persona Canvas is great for getting creative. Print it out on A1 or A2 and use sticky notes to capture your ideas, or sketch out your thoughts freehand - whatever works best for your team. You can also use the Google Slides template to do the same on a big screen.
STEP BY STEP
1. NAME & ROLE
Your persona needs to be as real as possible. Start by giving your persona a real name and role. This helps anchor them in reality. Using a real person as the model is even better.
2. DOTTED OUTLINE
The Persona Canvas is designed to make it easy for you to draw what your customer looks like on top of it. Is it a man? A woman? Is he or she happy? Or sad? Do they wear specific clothes? Make a rich picture. Base it on a real person, who is a typical customer within the target segment.
3. NEED
The goal for the Persona Canvas is to identify needs for the persona. What do they really want? What decisions will they take? The rest of the canvas helps to zoom in on this and get it as accurate as possible. Adapt the need as you continue to build out the canvas and define your persona.
4. POSITIVE TRENDS
What are the positive trends the persona experiences in their life, in the world around them?
5. OPPORTUNITIES
What are positive opportunities the persona experiences in their life? These could be in work, or private life.
6. HOPES
What hopes and personal goals does the persona have for the future?
7. NEGATIVE TRENDS
What are negative trends the persona experiences in their life, in the world around them?
8. HEADACHES
What are negative headaches the persona experiences in their life? These could be in work, or private life.
9. FEARS
What fears does the persona have for the future, and what personal issues are they contending with?
CHECKLIST
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Did you give your persona a name and a role?
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Did you develop a rich picture that resembles a real customer/s?
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How much of what is on the canvas is still an assumption?
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What is the 'core' of your persona? What do they need most?
NEXT STEPS
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Use the Progress Board to test and validate your assumptions.
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Go out of the building to talk to current and potential customers. Does what they say resonate with your persona or do you need to update it?
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Use the Persona as the basis for creating a Customer Journey.
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Use the Persona as the basis for validating your Value Proposition.
