
Process: The People

To me, personas are critical in the creation and functionality of websites, mobile applications, and anything with which humans have to interact. There is strength in numbers, and personas are the accumulation of all of the collected data, information from surveys, interviews, and the vision of the clients.
User Journeys
Open/Closed
Card Sorting
Contextual Analysis
User Research




We did a user journey for buying items of clothing online (based off of actual interview data) and compared it with the journey after using the Sidewalk Runway website.

A sketch of the user journey for someone purchasing something online that doesn't suit their body type at all. This is the problem we want to fix.

The best way to find out what words people associate with which items/categories. Copy on websites/app is more important than most people think.

We did a user journey for buying items of clothing online (based off of actual interview data) and compared it with the journey after using the Sidewalk Runway website.
I want to get a basic idea of the average person who uses or would use the website or mobile application for which I am designing.
To do this, I create some user journeys based off of the current user flows, conduct some contextual analysis on the current app/site and/or competitive/comparative sites, and do a few card-sorts with the current sitemap to see if there is any issue with the copy.


Surveys
Google Forms
Surveying

We sent out a screener survey and received an overwhelming amount of responses. Have to remember, though, that it could just mean that these are the people more likely to take a survey, not that they are the main member.

Color-coding and sorting survey results to focus data and find the best interviewees. This took a long time and a lot of organization tactics as there were almost 1800 results.

Getting an idea of our current member. Since the application is mainly advertised by word of mouth, we wanted to focus on getting to know them and cater to their needs so they recommend the application more.

We sent out a screener survey and received an overwhelming amount of responses. Have to remember, though, that it could just mean that these are the people more likely to take a survey, not that they are the main member.
Creating a survey is the first step in figuring out the current market and helping to find the right people to interview .
Asking the right questions is key: I want to make sure that what I need to know is worded in a way that isn’t leading but that gives enough relevant information with which to move forward.
I must then organize that data that I gain from the surveys in order of importance, and decide what I can focus on for the interviews.
Interviews

Interviewing

Allowing on person to interview while the other person types responses seems to be the best way to interview in some cases.

Look at all of that text! Just to think, soon it will mold itself into a couple of brand new people!

Interviewing alone has its pros and cons, but I enjoy it as well since some people are more comfortable with one-on-one. It's a good thing I type quickly!

Allowing on person to interview while the other person types responses seems to be the best way to interview in some cases.
After sending out surveys I want to focus on getting more details on the answers that were given. Why did they say yes to this, but no to that? What makes them dislike this thing? Why do they like that website application?
Keeping the interviewee comfortable and giving them the time they need to answer the questions naturally is incredibly important. The accuracy of your information and data is dependent on this.
The interviewer must remain neutral, yet friendly, and not lead any answers or make the interviewee feel like they are being judged.


Affinity Mapping
Storytelling
Persona Creation

Where Post-Its go to perish.

Those post-its have organized themselves into one of the Charity Miles personas. This is the very rough outline of what the final persona will look like, but all of the necessary information is here.

Giphy's persona Julie's final outline. Writing out her story was really interesting and challenging.

Where Post-Its go to perish.
With all of the data in-hand, I can then allow the main users of the product to create themselves.
This process is very time-consuming as it is the accumulation of, hopefully, a lot of information and the personas themselves will serve to represent the users and the company goals for many features to come.
After getting down all of the descriptors and relevant details, I set about organizing them into likely characters, who, after a few items are places, begin to 'flesh' themselves out.