If your project has sufficient time and budget, a range of focus groups composed of people who fit the user profile (and there may be more than one) can be used to inform your initial designs and then test each stage of design development. Insights from focus group testing can be used to refine the design and make sure that it resonates with your target audience.
However, if time and budget are unavailable, even a little audience research goes a long way. One of the simplest and cost-effective ways of gaining insight into your audience is to use an imaginary user profile, or persona, created from desk research, project knowledge and a little common sense.
The level of detail that is required will vary depending on the nature of your project, but creating a relevant persona means that you and your team always have a touchpoint to refer to when designing. This helps make sure that design decisions remain in line with the needs and expectations of your audience.
The idea is to be able to imagine how a particular user will interact with your design. So if your audience has been identified as a young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs), your persona will outline their likely personality attributes, esteem, sense of belonging, security, and physical needs (based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).
- Identify the main audience types by talking to your client and researching their customer base at the start of the project.
- Create a shortlist of attributes including demographics (age, education, gender, location, profession) and psychology (attitude, interests, lifestyle, personality).
- Encourage empathy by giving each persona a name (and a stock photo also helps to bring it to life).
- Share the user profiles with your client and project team.
This fictional user profile represents your audience, and depending on the type of project, you may need three, four or five personas that reflect the range of your audience.
You can now imagine how your personas would interact with a piece of information and use the insight gained to help refine your design and make sure it meets the needs of your audience.
