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You need to make it as easy as possible for users to do what they want. If your users don’t understand what’s happening or they don’t understand how your product works, they’ll abandon your product for something that’s easier to use.
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Facebook has over 2.2 billion users and
Amazon has over 310 million users.
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You can see how hard that will
be if they tried to interview
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every single user on their platform and
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created a custom experience down
to the users' unique preferences.
0:13
Even the biggest companies don't have
unlimited resources, which is why they
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group users into representative
profiles called user personas.
0:22
User personas represent the most common
types of users for your product.
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It'simportant to realize that
these are stereotypes and that
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individual users will act differently than
the representative persona you choose.
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But it would be extremely prohibitive
to create unique user profiles for
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the millions of users who could
potentially use your product.
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Which is why we group
people into personas.
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To do this effectively,
assess your most realistic users.
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A lot of people make the mistake
of assuming that their business
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is targeted at everyone.
1:01
Although anyone can use your product,
it's important to keep your
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eye on the main people you expect
would be using your product.
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Grandmas probably aren't the top
visitors of the X-Games site.
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Likewise, teenage boys don't
tend to visit websites about
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finding the right retirement
communities very often.
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Figure out the types of users
that will use your product.
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Do you have a mostly elderly audience,
or do you have a young, teen audience?
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[SOUND] The choices you make as
you build out your product and
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your experience should
reflect your target audience.
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We also need to keep in mind why
people are using the product.
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Do they want to buy something?
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Do they want to learn
more about something?
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Do they need it right now or
are they still comparison shopping?
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Are they looking to see their
favorite skateboarder's results or
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are they buying X-Games tickets?
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Are they trying to tour
a retirement community or
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are they ready to take the next step and
buy a retirement home?
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We also need to understand the limitations
of different personas in groups.
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Most grandmas probably don't
want complicated sites.
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They just want the basics.
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On the other hand,
a teenage boy may want extra content.
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Videos and
photos to give them a more in depth,
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behind the scenes look at how his
favorite athletes are holding up.
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Similar groups of users may have
similar preferences and limitations.
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Most teenagers have
shorter attention spans,
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while many grandmothers aren't as
technically savvy as younger generations.
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Although we won't be going in depth
into accessibility in this course,
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it's important to plan for
the accessibility needs of our users.
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As people age,
their eyesight tends to deteriorate.
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Therefore, when designing for
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an older generation, we should be
conscious of font size and contrast.
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Overall, we should design with
the most common user personas in mind.
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And don't be afraid if it's not
a perfect match for an individual user.
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It won't be, and that's okay.
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People are unique.
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But our personas will represent
the most common traits.
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If our app isn't mostly geared to
grandparents, let's make it minimal
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with large, easy to read text to help
them find what they're looking for.
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If it's a more content-driven site for
younger users, it's more acceptable
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to provide an immersive experience,
rather than an expedited one.
3:23
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