Building Contextual Personas through Scenario Planning (PCTO 2016)

Jesse Emmanuel Rosario @jemrosario Building Contextual Personas Through Scenario Planning

PodCampToronto 2016 | February 20-21, 2016

•  UserExperienceSpecialist,Analy3calEngineInterac3ve,Inc.(Toronto,ON)

About Me

@jemrosario #PCTO16

FACT:Personasaregreat!

From Freepik (http://www.freepik.com/free-vector/variety-of-human-avatars_766615.htm)

user research

Ellen•  45yearsold•  Motheroftwo•  Proudtechadopter•  Paysforhercoffee

exclusivelyfromhermobiledevice

ASamplePersona(courtesyNielsenNormanGroup)

#PersonaProblems •  “Toogoodtobetrue”syndrome:Clients/stakeholdersquibblingaboutthedetails(andveracity)ofthepersona.

•  Personasareeithersofake(i.e.basedonassump3onsorzerouserresearch)orspikedwiththewrongdata.

This is great!

So exciting!

This app will be the app to end all apps!

Acme, Inc. can kiss my

hands!

Fourweeksandapersonalater…

“That’s my target user?” “Amazing Amy really does this?” “Fastidious Frank sounds like a pain!” “I don’t want Meandering Millie near my cool

app…. she’ll break it!” “Cool story, bro. Still feels fake to me!”

The typical Canadian

family!

Joe Oliver, PC Former Finance Minister

“'Henry and Cathy,' with 'two active kids' are one of the typical Canadian families featured in the Conservative government's messaging around the 2015 federal budget, also known as the Economic Action Plan. (budget.gc.ca)” – CBC News

From CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/typical-family-in-federal-budget-not-so-typical-critics-1.3051011)

"IfyoulookatthetypicalCanadian,thetypicalfamilythataCanadianlivesin,then$120,000—thatputsyouintheupper15percentofCanadianfamilies,"saysMilesCorak,aneconomistattheUniversityofOXawa.

"TheConserva3ves'imaginary'typicalfamily'doesn'treflecttherealityofCanadianfamilies:theymakealmosttwiceasmuchastherealaverageCanadianfamily,"-formerNDPFinanceCri3cNathanCullen.

“Are you for real? As in really, real ‘REAL’?!?” !a.k.a.theCredibilityQuesGondirectedtowardstradi3onalpersonas

P R O B L E MTraditional personas

lack the product context needed to

build digital products that users want and generate business.

How do we solve this?

SCENARIO PLANNING

A strategic foresighting tool

STRATEGIC FORESIGHT

“A systematic approach to gathering intelligence about possible futures and building

shared visions, aimed at guiding and enabling present-day

decisions”

- Greg Van AlstyneCo-Founding Director, Strategic Innovation Lab

OCAD University

CRITICAL UNCERTAINTY

“Drivers of change with high potential impact, which, at the same time are very difficult to

call”

– 2020 Media Futures Report�OCAD University �

Strategic Innovation Lab

Let’stakescenarioplanningforaspin!(a.k.a. Let’s build your first contextual persona)

Try it!

!You are a newly hired VP Digital at

Canadian Tire and have been tasked to refresh the company’s digital channels for a

millennial crowd.

“Millennialscooltoolderbrands”MetroNews(February16,2016)

“Old-stockcompaniesaren’twinningthefavourofthe‘Net<lixandchill’generation,accordingtoanIpsos-InstituteofCommunicationAgenciessurveyofthemostin<luentialbrandsinCanadain2015.[…]MillennialswerealsomuchlesslikelytoholdCanadianTireinhighesteem.Thecompanyfoundedin1922bytheBillesbrothersinTorontowastheseventh-mostin,luentialamongboomers,butadistant51stamongmillennials.”

•  What’sacri3caluncertaintyagain?

Find your Critical Uncertainties

What is the most hard-

hitting/crucial factor facing the

business that could impact their future?

What is the most uncertain/

volatile factor facing the business?

•  What’sacri3caluncertaintyagain(WRTcontextualpersonas)?

What is the most hard-

hitting/crucial factor about your users that could

affect the product/service’s creation?

What is the most uncertain/

volatile factor surrounding your

users?

•  Howdowedothat?– Userresearch(userinterviews,primaryandsecondaryresearch,analy3csresearch,surveys,ethnography,contextualinquiry,etc.)

– Synthesizetherawdata•  Affinitymapping•  TheFiveWhys(a.k.a.rootcauseanalysis)

Don’t be that guy (or girl)!

•  Iden3fythecriGcalandtheuncertain.

CRITICAL: Brand perception (e.g. “How is the

Canadian Tire brand perceived among

millennials?”)

UNCERTAIN: Engagement with brands over digital media (i.e. social

media, etc.)

HIGH REGARD

LOW REGARD

DISENGAGED (e.g. apathetic)

HIGHLY ENGAGED

(e.g. outspoken)

CRITICAL: Brand perception (e.g. “How is the

Canadian Tire brand perceived among

millennials?”

UNCERTAIN: Engagement

with brands over digital media (i.e.

social media, etc.)

TheSilentFan

TheSpokes-person

ThePessi-mist

TheLoudCriGc

HIGH REGARD

LOW REGARD

DISENGAGED (e.g. apathetic)

HIGHLY ENGAGED

(e.g. outspoken)

TheSilentFan

TheSpokes-person

ThePessi-mist

TheLoudCriGc

RESULT:

User types

•  Personas•  UserStory

Mapping•  Customer

JourneyMaps,etc.

SomecommonquesGons,concerns,objecGons,etc.(a.k.a. YA RLY…)

#SameOldLove “How are contextual personas any different from traditional persona development?”!!

•  Principalbenefit:Contextualpersonassituateyourproductalongsideyourbusiness’andyourusers’contextbeforedeliveringthefirstlineofcode(orbeyond).–  Providehintsonyourusers’possiblerela3onshipwithyourproduct/

service,whichiskeyduringtheDiscoveryphase.–  Deliversthebestofbothworlds:

BehaviouralInsight+ProductContext(throughcri3caluncertain3es).

•  CASESTUDY:TheCanadianJewishNewsContextualPersonas

•  Answered:–  Whoareourusers?–  Whatkindofcontent

maXerstothem?–  Whattypeofrela3onship

couldtheyhavewiththeproductbeingbuilt.

#SameOldLove

“Footinboth

worlds”

“TheAc3vist”

“TheDowntown

Jew”

“Holis3callyJewish”

Younger,Proac3ve

Older,Reac3ve

LessReligious

HighlyReligious

Critical vs. Uncertain “ ‘Critical’ and ‘Uncertain’ aren’t so clear cut. !A critical factor may just be as uncertain as the other. How do you solve this?”!!

•  Intheory,criGcalanduncertainfactorsmayseemdis3nct.Inreality,they’reomencloseandsorelated.

•  Keep calm and open your mind. •  Identify more critical uncertainties,

and then pair them. •  It’s okay to miss it. Some pairings

may not make sense; try again. •  PRO TIP: Involve your client!

The Design Squiggle (by Daniel Newman)

#StupidUsers

Whybother?Usersarestupid…Life’stooshorttocatertoadimwit,anyway...

#StupidUsers

Askyourself,“Whatifyoulaunchyourproductandnobodybuysit?”

–ScoXHurff,

DesigningProductsPeopleLove(O’Reilly,2015)

#StupidUsers Ego-FirstDevelopment:“Thecoreproblemwithsomany

businessesisthatthey’rebasedonwhatthebusinessownerwants…They’refantasizingaboutbeingthehero:‘I’mgoingtorideinonmywhite‘somware’horse,andsavethesepoorpeople”

–AmyHoy,

“WhyIt’sNotAboutYou”Episode52,ProductPeoplepodcast

#StupidUsers

“Concoc3ngaproductideaisreallyanactoflistening.Andwithoutknowingwhoyou’reservingandwhattheyneed,buildingproductissimplyanotherformofop3mis3cspecula3on.”

–ScoXHurff,

DesigningProductsPeopleLove(O’Reilly,2015)

•  ContextualPersonas=BehaviouralInsights+ProductContext.

•  Glimpsespoten3alusagescenariosgivenusergoals,mo3va3ons,andproductcontext.

•  Drivenbyuserresearch,this3mewithaviewtowardsthecri3calandtheuncertain.

•  Coversmuchmoregroundcri3caltoachievingproblem-solu3onfit.•  Funnelsnicelyintoagileuserstories,userstorymapping,customer

journeymaps,etc.

In Conclusion

R E M E M B E R

“Life’s too short !to build something nobody wants”. !

Build “what’s worth doing” !so you can deliver digital products

that your users love. !ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ash Maurya (author, Running Lean), Joe Natoli (author, Think First), and Scott Hurff (author, Designing Products People Love) for the quotable quotes!

Jesse Emmanuel Rosario @jemrosario Building Contextual Personas Through Scenario Planning

Thankyou!:-)

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