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Creating Web site design personas
According to Forrester
Research, many Web site design
teams focus on the wrong
things when building new
e-commerce sites. Rather than
ensuring the customer’s needs
are met quickly and
efficiently, many get bogged
down in operational issues or
organizational turf wars. To
avoid that scenario, the
research firm recommends
designers build "personas," or
customer models based on
real-life users and how they
react to the site. Here are
four key criteria for building
successful personas:
Base it on real research.
Some companies think they know
what their customers want and
need from their e-commerce
site and design to those
expectations. But Forrester
says it’s better to base
personas on research and
in-depth interviews with real
customers.
Format it like a narrative.
This means to make sure your
persona tells a story. A
soccer mom's needs and
expectations when buying new
tires for her car differ
markedly from a recent college
graduate's needs when
performing the same task.
Successful personas include
details about motivations,
goals and behaviour.
Put it into channel
context.
Include insights into how they
use the e-commerce channel,
where they use it and when
they opt for other channels,
such as brick-and-mortar
stores or phone-based sales
channels.
Put a human face on it.
Successful personas come
across as real people with
real needs. It's more
difficult to get lost in turf
wars and the needs of the
business when faced with the
an actual customer trying to
make a purchase on your site.
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