Personas are a predictive design tool to help think about the needs, wants, desires and possibly experiences. In doing this, teams gain better insights that lead to better products and services.
These persoas were used to guide a redesign of a thermostat. Andy and Susana were created with juxtaposed lifestyles while still fitting into the realm of likely consumers.
Andrew (wishes he was Andy)
Andrew is a 31-year-old Caucasian male of German and Czech descent. He lives in a Chicago high rise with his wife. The Chicago climate has four seasons, so an easy to use thermostat is important for him. He comes from a large family but does not have any children of his own. Unfortunately he is emotionally unfulfilled in his middle-management marketing job because his position is stagnant. Andy was hired as a primarily as a consultant but when he was finally promoted, Andrew was left to manage people under him. If he could put in just a few more hours of work, his bosses would move him up the ladder where he thinks he would be much happier.
Andy wishes he was out of the office and out on Lake Michigan sailing away from the beckoning of his BlackBerry. He would love to be going from coast to coast; Andrew wishes he was a world traveler. For this reason he deeply desires a promotion. Neither he nor his wive are religious. They do however have an affinity toward aesthetics. Their modernly designed furniture is likely possible because they do not travel much or have any children. His European heritage may subconsciously influence how his home is designed. Andrew is on Facebook and LinkedIn, he's thinking about signing up for twitter but not sure if he missed the boat.
Andrew?s home is vacant during the day. He wakes up at 5:00 am to go to the gym. He does this to keep looking fit to impress the people around him giving the appearance that his life is on track. Andrew has a home gym but he prefers to leave his high rise to be seen. He works out for an hour and showers at the gym. From there he stops at a coffee shop for smoothie or bagel. If he watched his wallet closer, he could save a little more money to take a vacation. Unfortunately waiting for the El train in the winter is freezing cold and smelly and humid in the summer. Andrew is irritable. He stays at work an extra hour and leaves at 6:00. This also helps him beat some of rush hour. He arrives home at 7:15 to have dinner with his wife. They usually watch some TV or go on the computer. He goes to bed at 11:00 pm to start the same routine over again the next day.
Susana
Sweet Susana is a 64-year-old 2nd generation Latina from Puerto Rico. Unfortunately she is both from a small family and windowed. She is grateful for her son Manny, 38 and daughter-in-law Molly 31, who now live with Susana. Manny and Molly's daughter, Lauren, 10, is the lucky one. She is spoiled by Susana who is an excellent cook, baker and gardener. Their large back yard in an Orlando suburb has a huge garden that Susana tends to. She enjoys the warm out doors and the open space. Her family enjoys the one or maybe two This natural space maintains her tranquil lifestyle. Before she retired she was an sculpture art collector and graduate of community college. She is a practicing Catholic and is connected with her roots. Her family may be small but they come from old money. Susana is learning to use her Yahoo e-mail account and Lauren helped her make an Avatar.
Susana also wakes up at 5:00 am but her lifestyle is quite different. She naturally wakes up to take the dog, Rufus, out. She uses this time to water her garden, check on what is growing and take Rufus for a walk. She does this so early because it gets very hot during the Florida afternoons. Around 7:00 she puts some muffins out in the breakfast nook or cuts up some watermelon for Manny, Molly and Lauren to eat before they begin their days. Susana saves the weekend to make a full breakfast. By 8:00 the family is gone and she returns to the garden to pick which vegetables to include in the supper she will make. Now it is quite warm so she showers and begins the rest of her day.
From 10:00 until noon, Susana works on the computer. She has a Yahoo! email account and Lauren recently helped her make an avatar. It takes Susana about 2 hours to read and write some emails to her family in Puerto Rico, but she has the time. She's quite hungry now, she prepares a small lunch and takes a nap. From 3-5pm, Susana begins to prepare dinner but takes a break halfway through to pick up Lauren from school. The family eats dinner together and afterwards Susana meets with her neighborhood girlfriends to play Bridge from 6:30-8:30. The family spends some time together from 8:30 to 9:30, but after that, Susana needs her rest. She looks forward to another wonderful day in sunny Orlando with her family and garden.