Proto Personas
What
- A sketch, or a low-fidelity version of the Persona
- Created by teams collectively
- Based on experience and gut-feel, rather than market research
Why
- Align teams towards a common understanding of the target audience
- Humanise numbers to empathize better
When to use
- At early stages of Design Thinking Proto Personas serve as a starting point
- When there is a constraint on resources
How
What you need
Large flipchart / Whiteboard
Post its / Markers / Sharpies
Time needed
1 – 3 hours, depending on number of proto-personas being created
Number of people
1 facilitator
4 – 6 team members
Method
- Refer to strategic target customer of the product in question
- Look for specific user groups – prioritize if required
- Get the basic demographic info – age range / gender/ location / marital status / special needs
- Now get the team together
- Start with figuring out user groups – we will make one proto persona for each
- Do one proto persona at a time
- Use the format and start with a relevant name, draw / paste a picture
- Ask questions, challenge each other
- Agree that this is what our typical customer in this user group would be like
Variation (requires more time)
- Each team member uses empty formats and makes 3 personas each
- Each one presents their personas – while the facilitator starts noting down salient and common points
- Finally clean the 3 personas that facilitator notated – to make your personas
Become a practitioner!
Learn how you can integrate the techniques of Design Thinking in your own context and with your skill-set by practicing in the real world.
Practitioner's Workshop - Download the Brochure
