Customer Experience Professionals: Break Through Persona Obstacles Now

Despite ample evidence of the value that personas contribute to user experience design and related business results, some firms still struggle to use them to the greatest effect. At the root of many common obstacles to persona success are poor persona practices such as: inadequate funding for research, poorly produced deliverables, failure to get stakeholder buy-in, and lack of clarity about the purposes of personas. To break through these obstacles and put their firms on the path to getting more out of personas, customer experience professionals should tailor their approach to the maturity of their organization's persona practice, get stakeholders to take ownership of personas, integrate personas into processes, and document and evangelize their business value.