The State Of The Art Of Personas

Personas offer a proven solution for a common design challenge: Keeping the end user in mind during all phases of design, development, and testing. Recently, shortsighted firms have wrongly dismissed personas as passé. But firms need tools for sharing customer understanding now more than ever. That's because design challenges have become more complex than ever, spanning the channels and business silos that customers pass through on their journeys. To keep these projects on track, firms need a shared understanding of customers' deep needs across an increasing array of touchpoints — including social and mobile. This report describes the best practices of leading companies when it comes to initiating persona projects, conducting appropriate research, crafting persona deliverables, and ensuring that they are used effectively throughout initiatives.