Personas help to prevent self-referential thinking, whereby a designer designs as if they are making the software only for themselves, when in fact the audience is quite unlike them.
Shlomo “Mo” Goltz
Empathy is the cornerstone characteristic of user research. If we don’t understand our users, we can’t meet their needs using design. Understanding users is essential for crafting enjoyable and delightful experiences.
Personas are a widely used tool to transform dry, arbitrary statistics into meaningful and memorable characters. By representing your users, these characters serve as an easy reference point to bring your user to the forefront of your design process. In a way, personas are like a grocery list — the grocery list, scannable version of your users’ defining characteristics.
Your mission is to dive deep into the world of personas. Understand why they’re valuable, when to use them, and how to make them. Below are the required readings and videos to guide you. Don’t forget to watch the video at the top of this page if you haven’t!