Helping an entire company communicate through research-backed personas.
Personas created through user research and based on human behavior have the ability to influence and align an entire company. Hireology user personas have been particularly integral in helping guide UX and product strategy and inform how we look at and interpret data.
I have been involved since the birth of Hireology's user personas since 2015, eventually taking the lead. I have conducted and used research findings to continuously maintain user flow diagrams and empathy maps that help illustrate and communicate our various user personas.
Hireology's personas have truly been an ongoing effort, backed by continuous research findings and have been so effective that the entire company has adopted them as a way to help empathize, understand, and communicate about our customers.
In 2015, when Hireology's personas were born, there was a general lack of understanding of the various user types across product. It was hard to understand how to approach designing a feature or solving a problem because we didn't know who we were designing for, much less anything about those users.
The effort began with a workshop with our VP of Product, who knew our customer base inside and out. We explored questions like who are our different types of users? what are they trying to accomplish? and what are their feelings, frustrations, and expectations during the hiring process?
After creating user flow diagrams and rough empathy maps, we validated internally and eventually followed up with years of ongoing research and findings. I designed our own version of an empathy map that focused on human behavior and motivations, as opposed to personal characteristics.
I printed posters of our personas and hung them in the office and communicated to the company about this new tool and how it can help. In addition, I have continuously used ongoing research efforts to expand on the personas creating a deeper understanding of their journey and mental models.
Honestly, when we set out to create the user personas, I never thought we'd get as much traction across the company as we did. It didn't happen overnight, but eventually the entire company was talking in personas. They became a new and very effective communication tool. However, as with all personas, there have been a few hurdles. We've had to re-align everyone a few times, making the distinction between buyer personas or customer journeys. And we continue to stress that our personas should be used to help guide our conversations and decisions, as opposed being a rule.
Personas have probably been my biggest "baby" during my time at Hireology and I couldn't be more proud. Developing the personas and a deep understanding of their goals has ultimately led me to my passion for strategy. I truly care about our users and want to do right by them.