This use case is a following of my previous article about what’s a persona that I suggest you to read if you haven’t do already.

Context

This work have been done in collaboration with Audrey Lambert, former webmarketing coordinator @ 100pharmacies.com. A huge shout out for her skills in data analysis, her knowledge on all webmarketing related fields and her feedbacks !

I created these personas in order to help the team develop empathy for the user when designing the new version of 1001pharmacies’s website.

Here is my design process…

Datas sources

Several data resources have been used to build 1001pharmacies’s personas.

The top 100 best customers of last 6 months gave a first insight on which profiles were representing the customer base (Name, Address, Products typology, Buying frequency, …)

Exploratory interviews of internal team also gave informations about customer behaviour on a E-commerce website as some of team’s member have made several orders on the web site.

Finally, phone interviews feedbacks from the “amnesics” (customers whom ordered only one time), informed more about their behaviours.

Facets continuum

Once these datas have been agregated, they allow to build a facets continuum.

It is a representation of opposite characteristics allowing to define the different facets of the personas.

The characteristics are defined according to the desined system and the similarities that can be found in the user data.

Once the continuum is built, the different personas are placed on the horizontal axis.

3 personas have been created .

This small number prevents dispersing the designer mind during the various phases of the system creation. In addition, several user profiles (expectations, needs) were similar enough to be grouped into a single persona.

Primay persona

It represents the main user of the future product. He is the one the system will be designed for, whose needs and objectives must be fully satisfied. The functionalities that derive from its behavior take precedence over the other personas.

Delphine, 30 years old, active young mum.

Moms represents the majority of the current customer base of 1001pharmacies.com. As the primary persona of 1001pharmacies.com, its expectations and needs easily identifiable allow to design universal functionalities for any E-commerce websites (efficient search, efficient filters, fast page display a.k.a performances, intuitive navigation …)

• Delphine knows its products before arriving on the website.
• Her need is mainly on maternity products.
• She buys on a regular basis and searches for the best prices on the internet.
• Her recurring need for the same products allows her to anticipate her purchases, therefore, she’s not especially sensitive to the delivery delay.
• In her shopping process, she adopts a rational behavior, she sticks to her prearranged list of purchase and does not venture in the other sections of the website.
• Her personality is introverted, meaning she uses the site as a service without seeking a community or human contact.

Primary persona path

To illustrate this persona, a typical user path was built.

This is not an exhaustive representation of the persona experience on the website.

It allows the designer to better understand the actions of the persona in order to focus his design efforts. Here, the scenario represents the first purchase of the persona:

1. Delphine has a linear shopping process because she knows the products she needs in advance.
2. She doesn’t have much time to spend on her purchases.
3. Enters the website via a price comparator where she searched her first product (ex: milk for baby) at the best price.
4. Lands on a product page and adds it directly to the cart, as she’s already convinced by the product.
5. Search a second product (ex: cotopads) via the search bar or the menu.
6. Lands on the product listing to find her second product.
7. Click on a product page.
8. Adds directly to the cart, as she’s also already convinced by the product.

Secondary persona A

They share common goals and needs with the primary persona. However, they also have their own characteristics, but they will not be given priority in the design of the system.

The first of these secondaries personas is:

Julie, 28 years old, independent and curious.

This persona represents another important part of the clientele of 1001pharmacies.com. Buyer of parapharmacies products by pleasure and conviction that these products are of superior quality than large surface products.

Functionalities relating to this persona relate to the seduction aspect of the website and products (highlighting innovations, advanced filter function, setting up sponsorship plans and/or loyalty …)

• Julie is convinced of the quality of parapharmacies products.
• However, she doesn’t have a great knowledge of the product ranges present in parapharmacie.
• She knows what she doesn’t want and therefore remains open to new things.
• Her relationship to compulsive buying pleasure is important. A reasonable delivery time is important.
• Purchase frequency varies according to her need or promotional offer that are available.
• She enjoys sharing her discoveries and shopping with her friends. Her outgoing personality makes her look for a community and human aspect in the branding of the website.
• Her products knowledge isn’t that great, product pages with quality content and advices (filters, reviews) can help her in her purchases.

Secondary persona A path

Julie doesn’t know the exact name of products she’s looking for. She only knows their brand name. Her path is more sinuous than Delphine’s.

1. She finds 1001pharmacies via its google positioning on brands.
2. Arrives on a branded page from a natural search result.
3. Opens multiple tabs of product pages to identify and compare products that look similar.
4. Take a little time to identify those that match her expectations and are directly added to the basket, the others don’t.
5. Initiates a new search (brand name).
6. Arrives on the product listing.
7. Find the second desired product.
8. Match her expectations, add product to cart.

Secondary Persona B

The second secondary persona is:

Claire, 31 years old, ethics and responsible

This person represents the future potential of 1001pharmacies.com in accordance with whished values ​​to be conveyed.

She is a parapharmacy product buyer who wishes to take care of her by remaining responsible and ethical towards the compositions used and the brands that she trusts.

The functionalities relating to this persona relate to the community aspect of the site, the quality of the contents and the responsible approach around the products selection and brand. (quality product page, developed brand page, branding on website transparence and agreements on its values ​​…)

• Claire is demanding with the products and brands she uses.
• She seeks meaning in her purchases and doesn’t hesitate to question the trends in progress.
• She follows new products release, visits blogs and forums of parapharmacies. She is in some sort a hardcore version of the persona Julie.
• Her purchase frequency remains irregular according to her needs and pleasures of the moment. However, she takes time to read the compositions of the products and isn’t easily seduced by packaging or an enticing communication.
• Her relation to the website community aspect is very strong, she appreciates the emerging forms of communication and the human relationship.
• Her knowledge of products varies, but she always takes the time to be convinced of her purchase before making a decision.

Secondary persona B path

Claire also has a fairly winding path.

1. She landed on 1001pharmacies from a branded niche page following a blog post she just read. A blogger seduced by our values ​​and our approach shared a brand page on our website.
2. Determines the history of the brand to see if their values ​​match with her own.
3. Opens several product pages and takes the time to read the composition of these to make a choice in a responsible and rational way.
4. Start a new search for other products.
5. Repeat the same pattern for this new brand and its products.

Usages

To conclude, these personas contributed to the redesign of the marketplace of 1001pharmacies.

By giving a face and a stereotyped personality to system’s users, the design team is able to identify and prioritize expected functionality on the platform.

If you liked this article and you also want to use this method, do not hesitate to contact me to work with you on your project and make it more user friendly