{"id":143,"date":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/?p=143"},"modified":"2024-10-15T01:49:16","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T09:49:16","slug":"idea-mvp-personas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/startups\/blog\/idea-mvp-personas\/","title":{"rendered":"What are user personas and why they’re essential for your startup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that you’ve taken the initial steps to validate your idea<\/a>, it’s time to move on to better understanding your target customer through user personas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founders that take a customer-centric approach from day one are more empowered to make informed decisions about which MVP features users would be willing to pay for and which ones should be scrapped. And while it may not seem immediately beneficial, solid user personas often become the backbone for your future marketing campaigns and can increase the chances of converting prospects into sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To develop your user persona, we recommend a two-step process: research, then create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step in developing a user persona is expanding on the anecdotal research you started when initially validating your idea and adding in widely available primary market data including reports and surveys to identify broader trends and behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do you take your customer conversations one step further? Fidel Ion, founder of news platform SWEN<\/a>, dedicated his time to Gemba walks<\/a> \u2013 an exercise developed by Toyota that helps you find the points in any process where real value can be added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For two weeks straight, I sat behind journalists, editors, videographers, and newsroom receptionists and asked them to walk me through their daily job click by click,” said Ion. “I would then write down what the SWEN solution would be for every item that needed improvement and would then validate that solution with the next person I talked to in the same role.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After going on these “walks” with every member of a newsroom, Ion was able to ensure the features he would eventually build in his MVP were the most impactful to journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Create (and iterate)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While customer research should be ongoing at every stage of product development, you’ll know you’re ready when you can visualize a three-dimensional person using your product. Your goal should be to develop a customer persona that offers key insights to guide your MVP development and include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Demographics<\/strong> : including age, gender, income, location, education, and work experience<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Psychographics<\/strong> : including motivations, values, goals, frustrations, fears, and lifestyle<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Product usage behavior<\/strong> : how they choose products, how often they purchase, how much they’re willing to spend, specific features they’re looking for, where and how they purchase products<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Additionally, your customer persona should help you answer the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n