Ci sono due momenti fondamentali nella creazione della Buyer persona: la scelta del nome e l’individuazione della foto che la rappresenterà. Queste due fasi ci aiutano a dare dei “connotati umani” alla Buyer persona.

Steve Murder, grande esperto e autore del libro The Users is always Right – A pratical Guide to creating and Using Personas for the Web, un testo fondamentale per capire come creare Buyer persona, ha descritto molto bene queste fasi.

Il nome

A persona is not a persona without a name. It might seem silly, but a name that everyone can refer to can make all difference in viewing the persona as being real than just a segment or user type.

A first name is usually enough, to avoid stretching everyone’s recall capacity. When you’re picking a name, use a real name that this particular person could have … Steer away from the names of any colleagues, since using such names is more distracting than helpful.

Scegliere un nome non è un esercizio da consumare in pochi minuti. Richiede molta attenzione, concentrazione e una buona attitudine nel calarsi nella parte.

Also think about personalities when you choose names. In the … example earlier one persona was motivated by quality and perfectionism so my team chose the name Patricia rather than Patty, because Patricia felt more appropriate for someone who cared about detail and a refined self-image. Make a conscious effort about what this type of person would want to call themselves: Bill or William, Becky or Rebecca, and so on.

Un nome ci offre già una indicazione della personalità, ma è necessario un altro indicatore, che aiuti a sintetizzare subito le sue principali caratteristiche:

When naming personas, consider adding a descriptor to the name so that everyone automatically associates the name with the primary differentiator …This description becomes a shorthand version of the persona. Find one word or a few that capture best what sets this persona apart form the others.

Ecco alcuni esempi:

Patricia the Perfectionist; Howard the Hurried; Hal the Hyperactive Trader; Larry the Conservative Laggard; Dave the Delegator.

Come forse avete osservato, Steve Murder ha utilizzato l’allitterazione per aiutare a rendere più memorizzabile il nome.

Come si fa a capire che un nome funziona bene? Secondo Steve Murder,

you know your persona are working when team members start referring to them by name, saying things like, “But Francis wouldn’t do that!”.

La foto

La foto ha la stessa importanza del nome nel rendere le Buyer persona “umane”.

Personas don’t come to life without photos. You absolutely must see these characters before they feel like real people …

The most important thing about selecting photos is to use real people. Do not use shots of people who are models or, in any way, can be viewed as models. Also avoid traditional stock photography approved for marketing uses. The whole point or persona is to create realistic characters who represent your actual [segments].

If you selected photos that don’t look like real people with real flaws, you’ll end up creating idealized user profiles that may be misleading when they’re used for decision-making.

Questa foto non va bene                       Questa foto va bene

      

 
La scelta della foto deve essere fatta tenendo conto che occorre rappresentare delle persone reali:

To make sure your photos look like real people, avoid overly posed photo. A face smiling at the camera is fine, but if the photo looks too carefully planned or unnatural, it’s not useful for a person. For this reason photos with something in the background look more real, compared to those obviously taken in a studio. The more your persona photo looks as if it were taken the actual environment of your users, the better.

Come si può notare, la foto da ricercare richiede un approfondimento molto elevato. Non si deve valutare solo il viso, ma anche l’abbigliamento:

Just as with name, photos of the personas should be appropriate to the personality you’re trying to create. Think about the clothing this particular person would wear, the hairstyle, the makeup, and so on.

Patricia the Perfectionist’s photo won’t contain ratty hair or a baggy sweatshirt. Choosing a photo means choosing an age range as well, so look at any data you have on age, but don’t feel confined by it.

Ma come fotografare il soggetto? Steve Murder raccomanda di utilizzare

face-and-shoulder shots for persona photos, because the face captures an excellent level of detail and personality, and you also get enough clothing to get a sense of it. Make sure to get shots in which the people are looking in the general direction of the camera and are not in profile. 

Questa foto non va bene                             Questa foto va bene

            

 

La foto non deve avere elementi di disturbo, che potrebbero falsare o distrarre dallo sguardo e dall’espressione del soggetto:

You should be able to see their faces cleary and not be too distracted by other people or objects, or anything else that feels overly odd or eccentric for this person, such ad hideous Christmans sweater or a parrot on his or her shoulder.

Questa foto non va bene                              Questa foto non va bene

         

Dove cercare le foto?

Steve Murder consiglia questi siti:

• stock.xchng 
• morgueFile
• iStockphoto (il più conosciuto in Italia, con una versione anche nella nostra lingua)

Aggiungerei anche Fotolia.