IB Design Technology Topic B1.1.3 Persona Development…

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Definition

Persona

A persona is a fictional but realistic profile of the target user, based on real data and insights gathered from user research. It represents their goals, needs, behaviours, and limitations to help guide design decisions.

Types of Personas:

Primary persona: The main user your design is focused on.
Secondary persona: A less important user with overlapping needs.
Anti-persona: Someone you're not designing for, used to clarify who the product isn’t meant to serve.

Why Use Personas?

Help focus design on actual user needs
Aid in empathy-building within the design team
Support consistent decision-making throughout development

Analogy

Think of personas as a compass for design.
They guide your decisions, ensuring you stay on course to meet the needs of your users.

What a Persona Is Not

A persona is a composite built from evidence, not a character you invented to justify a decision you had already made.
Every detail in it, from the goals to the frustrations, should be traceable back to something a real user said or did.

Note

Personas are not stereotypes.
They are based on real data and insights, not assumptions or generalisations.

Steps to Create a Persona

Start from real data: use the research you gathered and analysed in B1.1.2. A persona invented from imagination is worthless.
Identify Patterns
1. Look for shared behaviours, motivations, or challenges.
Build Profiles
1. Include name, age, background, goals, frustrations, and a photo.
Prioritise
1. Define primary vs. secondary personas based on impact or importance.

Note

User research is the foundation of persona development.
Without it, personas risk being inaccurate or misleading.

Key Elements of a Persona:

Demographics: Age, gender, occupation, education.

Goals: What the user wants to achieve with the product.
Frustrations: Pain points or challenges the user faces.
Behaviors: How the user interacts with technology and the environment.
Motivations: What drives the user to use the product.

Common Mistake

Common Mistakes in Persona Development:

Relying on assumptions
Overgeneralising
Neglecting updates (when new data becomes available)

Example question

A team is designing a professional hair dryer for use in salons. Their research covered both salon stylists and the clients who sit in the chair.

(a) Explain why the team would create both a primary persona and a secondary persona. (4 marks)

(b) State two elements that must appear in the primary persona, and say what each one is for. (2 marks)

Solution

(a) Award [1] for each linked point, up to [4 max].

The product has more than one kind of user, and their needs conflict. The stylist holds the dryer all day; the client only feels the heat and noise. [1]
The primary persona is the stylist, because the design must satisfy them fully. Their needs are weight, balance and hand fatigue over a long shift. [1]
The secondary persona is the client, whose needs (comfort, low noise, not being burned) must be met without compromising the primary persona. [1]
Naming a primary persona forces the team to decide who wins when the two conflict, which prevents a compromise design that suits nobody. [1]

(b) Award [1] for each element with its purpose, up to [2 max].

Goals: what the stylist is trying to achieve, so the team can test whether a design helps them achieve it. [1]
Frustrations: the pain points found in the research, which become the specific problems the redesign must solve. [1]
Demographics, behaviours and motivations are also creditworthy.

Whose Person Is It, Really?

A persona is written by the design team, so it inevitably carries their assumptions about who a typical user is.
That is a real limitation of the model, and the honest response is to check every claim against the data rather than against your instinct.

Theory of Knowledge

How might cultural biases influence the creation and interpretation of personas?

Active recall

What is a persona, and what must every detail in it be traceable to?
Distinguish between a primary persona, a secondary persona and an anti-persona.
List the five key elements of a persona.
Why is naming a single primary persona useful when two user groups conflict?
Why is a persona not the same thing as a stereotype?

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Definition

Persona

Types of Personas:

Primary persona: The main user your design is focused on.
Secondary persona: A less important user with overlapping needs.
Anti-persona: Someone you're not designing for, used to clarify who the product isn’t meant to serve.

Why Use Personas?

Help focus design on actual user needs
Aid in empathy-building within the design team
Support consistent decision-making throughout development

Analogy

Think of personas as a compass for design.
They guide your decisions, ensuring you stay on course to meet the needs of your users.

What a Persona Is Not

A persona is a composite built from evidence, not a character you invented to justify a decision you had already made.
Every detail in it, from the goals to the frustrations, should be traceable back to something a real user said or did.

Note

Personas are not stereotypes.
They are based on real data and insights, not assumptions or generalisations.

Steps to Create a Persona

Start from real data: use the research you gathered and analysed in B1.1.2. A persona invented from imagination is worthless.
Identify Patterns
1. Look for shared behaviours, motivations, or challenges.
Build Profiles
1. Include name, age, background, goals, frustrations, and a photo.
Prioritise
1. Define primary vs. secondary personas based on impact or importance.

Note

User research is the foundation of persona development.
Without it, personas risk being inaccurate or misleading.

Key Elements of a Persona:

Demographics: Age, gender, occupation, education.

Goals: What the user wants to achieve with the product.
Frustrations: Pain points or challenges the user faces.
Behaviors: How the user interacts with technology and the environment.
Motivations: What drives the user to use the product.

Common Mistake

Common Mistakes in Persona Development:

Relying on assumptions
Overgeneralising
Neglecting updates (when new data becomes available)

Example question

A team is designing a professional hair dryer for use in salons. Their research covered both salon stylists and the clients who sit in the chair.

(a) Explain why the team would create both a primary persona and a secondary persona. (4 marks)

(b) State two elements that must appear in the primary persona, and say what each one is for. (2 marks)

Solution

(a) Award [1] for each linked point, up to [4 max].

The product has more than one kind of user, and their needs conflict. The stylist holds the dryer all day; the client only feels the heat and noise. [1]
The primary persona is the stylist, because the design must satisfy them fully. Their needs are weight, balance and hand fatigue over a long shift. [1]
The secondary persona is the client, whose needs (comfort, low noise, not being burned) must be met without compromising the primary persona. [1]
Naming a primary persona forces the team to decide who wins when the two conflict, which prevents a compromise design that suits nobody. [1]

(b) Award [1] for each element with its purpose, up to [2 max].

Goals: what the stylist is trying to achieve, so the team can test whether a design helps them achieve it. [1]
Frustrations: the pain points found in the research, which become the specific problems the redesign must solve. [1]
Demographics, behaviours and motivations are also creditworthy.

Whose Person Is It, Really?

A persona is written by the design team, so it inevitably carries their assumptions about who a typical user is.
That is a real limitation of the model, and the honest response is to check every claim against the data rather than against your instinct.

Theory of Knowledge

How might cultural biases influence the creation and interpretation of personas?

Active recall

What is a persona, and what must every detail in it be traceable to?
Distinguish between a primary persona, a secondary persona and an anti-persona.
List the five key elements of a persona.
Why is naming a single primary persona useful when two user groups conflict?
Why is a persona not the same thing as a stereotype?

IB Design Technology Topic B1.1.3: Persona Development Notes

IB Design Technology Topic B1.1.3: Persona Development Notes

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Types of Personas:

Why Use Personas?

What a Persona Is Not

Steps to Create a Persona

Key Elements of a Persona:

Whose Person Is It, Really?

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Types of Personas:

Why Use Personas?

What a Persona Is Not

Steps to Create a Persona

Key Elements of a Persona:

Whose Person Is It, Really?

A. Design in theory

B. Design in practice

C. Design in context

A. Design in theory

B. Design in practice

C. Design in context

IB Design Technology Topic B1.1.3: Persona Development Notes

IB Design Technology Topic B1.1.3: Persona Development Notes

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Types of Personas:

Why Use Personas?

What a Persona Is Not

Steps to Create a Persona

Key Elements of a Persona:

Whose Person Is It, Really?

Personas: Turning Research Data Into a Person

Types of Personas:

Why Use Personas?

What a Persona Is Not

Steps to Create a Persona

Key Elements of a Persona:

Whose Person Is It, Really?