As UX designers, one of the most important things we can do to design a successful product is to thoroughly understand and develop a well-rounded understanding of our target customers. Personas are all about building empathy amongst your team. Great software gets made when the people who make it care about the people who use it. Personas provide a comprehensive view of the potential customers of your product. It blends the who, the what, and the why together of the person who uses the product. 

When looking at the previous blog post comparing the usability of Target and Amazon, in the case of Target specifically, we can identify multiple personas for the potential shopper at Target. In this case, however, I will develop a persona for myself and a hypothetical woman, through my own experience shopping at the stores and knowing their target audience. 

The first persona I developed was for the hypothetical user of Target, Jane Doe. Jane is a 33-year-old Guidance Counselor who makes $95,000. She has been married for Five Years and has two kids (4 4-year-old girl and 2 2-year-old boy). Jane was (hypothetically) quoted as saying, “I need a place to do all my shopping at once. From baby food and diapers to groceries”. Jane wants a place where she has all her needs met on an after-work trip before she picks up the kids from daycare. She also prioritizes the option for order pickup for when she has to stay late for work events, and her husband, John, has to do the shopping for the week.  Target provides the opportunity to hit all areas she needs and makes the week less stressful for her and her family. This allows her to focus on her job better and be able to help her students through academic and personal Issues. Target also provides her with high motivation with relatively easy accessibility. Her influences can range from her kids, her husband, and her students. 

Following Jane’s Persona, I developed a persona for myself and my reasons for using Target. I am 24 and work a 9-5, Monday to Friday, as a Higher Education Admin who also goes to school full-time. I still live with my parents at home, and my Weekends are the majority of free time. My thoughts about using Target are as follows: “I go to Target to know all my needs, from groceries to self-care and school supplies/ technology will be met”. I want to be able to maximize my free time on weekends to spend it doing hobbies I enjoy, seeing friends and family, and relaxing before another busy week, balancing school and work begin. Target allows me to place orders to quickly pick up what I need for the week and be on my way. Target also allows me to pick up on nights after work from 5 pm on.  Target also provides me with high motivation with relatively easy accessibility. My influences can range from my job, my school schedule, and it’s easier to pick up and order, and not have to rush through a store or wait in line, and lose time I’d rather spend doing something that fulfills me. 

Developing personas will allow for the successful design of your product, as you will be able to build it around your target audience to ensure their needs are being met through your product. 

See below for the full personas!

Sources:

Ralph, Ben Le. “Creating Personas.” Medium, Medium, 29 Sept. 2022, medium.com/@benleralph/personas-74c4e1c12ee2