*** Avatars Anonymous & Personas Unknown-us ***

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Intro: Welcome to the E6S-Methods podcast with Jacob and Aaron, your weekly dose of tips and tricks to achieve excellent performance in your business and career. Join us as we explore deeper into the practical worlds of Lean, Six Sigma, Project Management and Design Thinking. In this episode number 127, Jacob and I continue our discussion over the human side of design in part 2 of "Avatars Anonymous & Personas Unknown-us." If you like this episode, be sure to click the "like" link in the show notes. It's easy. Just tap our logo, click and you're done. Tap-click-done! Here we go. http://bit.ly/E6S-127 Leave a Review! http://bit.ly/E6S-iTunes http://bit.ly/E6S-Donate

Objection 1: Personas are a work of fiction, and don’t represent reality

Counter 1: True if that's where you choose to leave it. Yes they start in fiction, but in the process should represent and be the face of a larger needs segment to which you can "personalize" your offer.

Objection 2: Personas take too much time and effort to put together

Counter 2: This is the biggest gripe. Too many treat it like a tool they need to just get through. Don't skimp on the time. Take this moment to truly define and appreciate the user, customer, etc.

Objection 3: This is silly. We don't need a personas. we have ourselves, we have our user stories. We know what to do.

Counter 3: The word "empathy" doesn't sit well with many. In the end, too many designs are launched with no customer to buy. For some orgs (to this day), after 2 years of development, 70% of launched products are never purchased, due to the internal "echo chamber" that happens without deep customer insight/empathy.

I What is a persona? Summary of the psychographics/demographics of actual or target buyer

a. Various forms & level of detail: some look like stories, dashboards, booklets,

i. Example: E6S Chris

ii. Data-based Dashboard example

II Why do a persona?

a. Keeps you focused on a target-

b. Aid in creating the right product for the right buyer,

c. Provide insights on customer's deep needs

i. But what if we were wrong?

1. Iterate- either to a new persona that fits your offer or to a new offer that fits your persona

ii. What if we have more than one?

1. That’s fine. Choose the right level to focus. You will find more than one, but pick a focus area / niche until you need to zoom out to a broader audience

III Applications

a. Product Discovery & Design

b. Marketing

c. Sales

i. Sales Approach (B2B-especially)

ii. Relationship management

i. Customer Journey (Buyer’s journey)

ii. User Experience (UX)

e. Projects

i. Stakeholder Analysis

ii. Training & Presentation Planning

IV How to do a persona

a. Step 1- Make it up

i. Use your biases,

ii. Team brainstorming

b. Step 2 – Validate & Iterate

i. Go and see (gemba)

ii. Interviews

c. Step 3- Refine

d. Step 4 – Go Crazy! Add in all the complex analytics the consultants sell

i. Market Surveys

ii. Social media analytics

V Internal data – sales, complaints, Sample Questions

a. Answer these questions - use text and drawings/ photos

b. What is their name? Age?

c. Is (she/he) married? Spouse’s name?

d. Number of children (if any)?

e. What city or town does she live in?

f. Last movie or book (she/he) raved about?

g. Type of car (she/he) wishes she could drive?

h. What song(s) does (she/he) sing in the shower?

i. What does (she/he) do for fun that most people wouldn’t know about?

j. Last thing (she/he) did that made them feel special?

k. If they won $20 million what would (she/he) do?

l. Social media habits? Other habits? Hobbies?

VI Common Pitfalls

a. confusing with user stories

b. Not gaining empathy

i. treating as a "check in the box" deliverable

ii. skimping on the process to get the deliverable (value is in the process)

iii. not referring back regularly to keep aligned, or iterating (pivoting) when needed

iv. Treating as "user roles" or market segments/demographics,

v. not capturing emotional triggers

c. Creating too many - losing focus

VII Resources:

a. http://www.cx-journey.com/2014/04/do-you-know-who-your-customers-are.html

b. http://www.cx-journey.com/2014/12/the-gospel-of-customer-centricity-for.html

c. http://www.cx-journey.com/2015/09/treat-employees-better-than-customers.html

d. http://www.cx-journey.com/2015/12/understanding-cost-of-not-doing-right.html

e. 1999: personas are first described in one chapter of Alan Cooper's ""The Inmates are Running the Asylum"", building on prior work in ""Goal-Directed design""

Outro: Thanks for listening to episode 127 of the E6S-Methods podcast. Don't forget to click "like" or "dislike" for this episode in the show notes. Tap-click-done! Stay tuned for episode 128 where we tackle the ever elusive question of, "So what?" And can such a question really be a tool? We love hearing from our listeners and learning about how you use Lean and Six Sigma. Feel free to email me, "aaron," aaron@e6s-methods.com, or contact us through our website. We reply to all messages. The Make a Wish campaign is still going, so for everyone who contacts me or leaves a review, I donate a dollar to the Make a Wish Foundation. If you're thinking tomorrow would be better time or maybe someone else will do it, think again. For less effort than it takes to post on Facebook or LinkedIn, you can contribute to an extraordinary cause, and feel really good about it. If not now, then when? If not you, then who? Don't delay. Reviews on iTunes are always appreciated and allows us to reach more superstars like you. Don't forget to you can find notes and graphics for all shows and more at www.E6S-Methods.com. "Journey Through Success. If you're not climbing up, you're falling down? Leave a Review! http://bit.ly/E6S-iTunes http://bit.ly/E6S-Donate

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