Creating User Personas

Introduction

• User personas are customer profiles.
• They include customer's background, pain points, discovery channel, and evaluation process.
• Useful for messaging and go-to-market plan.
  • Refine messaging for specific customer segments.
  • Identify best channels to reach customer segments.

Approaches to Building User Personas

Qualitative Approach

• Start with the qualitative approach.
• Analyze existing user base for patterns and similarities.
• Create initial personas based on observed patterns.

Example of Initial Personas

• Product: Online data science bootcamp.
• User Groups:
  • Academia: Students with a PhD background.
  • Engineering: Students with an engineering background.
  • Analysts: Students with accounting, finance, or consulting background.

Detailed Phone Interviews

• Reach out to 5-6 people from each persona.
• Conduct 45-minute phone calls.
• Key areas to explore:
  • Background: How they reached their current position.
  • Pain Points: Why they considered your product.
  • Discovery Channel: How they researched the solution/product.
  • Evaluation Process: Criteria used to choose a product.

Example Interview Topics

• Academia Persona:
  • Journey to graduate school.
  • Why pursue data science.
  • Research methods (YouTube, Reddit).
  • Criteria for choosing a bootcamp (mentorship, curriculum).

Quantitative Validation

Surveys

• Create a survey for the rest of your user base.
• Aim for 90% of respondents to self-select into one of the personas.
• Include an "Other" option to discover new personas.

Summary

• Start with qualitative analysis.
• Validate with quantitative methods.
• Adjust and refine personas based on data collected.

Conclusion

• Engaging with users provides insights for refining personas.
• Include all relevant data points for effective marketing strategies.