UX Personas (That Don't Suck) Training

Most personas are utterly useless. Let's fix that.

After years of consulting, I had an epiphany. Personas - one of the most critical tools in user experience - are chronically inaccurate (sometimes bordering on delusional), tedious, and otherwise unhelpful. As a profession, we just don't do personas well. That's such a shame, because the quality of our personas has a direct impact on the quality of our deliverables.

Happily, by reviewing current personas methods, observing some truly well done personas, and researching best practices drawn from other professions that use persona-like tools, I'm convinced:

there's a better way for UX professionals to be doing personas, and
it goes beyond the standard context, behaviors, needs, motivations, etc.

Please join us to get new ways of researching, designing, and delivering personas that enrich your organization's understanding of their users.

YouX™ Competency Model

This training includes information targeted at these UX competency area(s):

Foundations
Research
Management

Get your customized learning plan using the YouX™ Competency Model.

Length

Online: 2 sessions, 6 hours total

In-house: Flexible dates & duration. Contact us to learn more.

Who Should Attend

Novice
Apprentice
Journeyman
Master
Manager
Leader

Aren't sure where you fit in?
Take YouX™ for Individual Contributors.

Program Overview

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this program, you'll be able to:

Discover the two types of accurate personas for every type of user.
Differentiate between primary and secondary source data.
Identify the qualitative data needed.
Select quantitative data to gather for each persona.
Solve challenges associated with "difficult to recruit" personas.
List common persona mistakes and how to avoid them.
Generate personas in engaging formats that enhance understanding.

Topics

Topic 1: Developing Personas

Comparables across industries
Types of personas in UX
Identifying business needs
Define attributes
Select quantitive data
Define qualitative data

Topic 2: Gathering Persona Data

Identifying sources
Conducting Research
Overcoming challenging users and situations

Topic 3: Delivering Personas

Storytelling
Delivery formats
Using global and situational personas
Maintaining your personas and modifying them over time.

What to Expect

Pre-work
All participants will be mailed a package of materials prior to the workshop. In preparation for this workshop, we encourage you to review your existing in-house personas.

Resources
This training includes a workbook, as well as tools and templates to help you apply what you learned.

Online Training
During this online training, you will collaborate in “real time” with your facilitator and classmates via interactive group discussions, polls, chats, and whiteboards. Our training is designed to help you learn twice as much in half the time. In order to achieve the high levels of engagement needed, training is highly interactive and not lecture-based. That is to say, you will not be able to complete other work and activities during the live session.

Technical Information

This is an interactive, online training conducting using GoToTraining. (GoToTraining platform requirements.) We strongly recommended using a desktop/laptop computer and not a tablet or mobile device. Phone or microphone & speakers are necessary.

Attendance & Certificates

Certificate
A digital Certificate of Completion will be available to each person who completes the workshop materials, including the post-test and evaluation.

Training Policies

Refund Guidelines

Sixty (60) days prior to the event, you can request a full refund.*
Thirty (30) or more days prior to the event, you can request a 50% refund.*
Thirty (30) or less days prior to the event, there are no refunds available. You can, however, transfer the registration to another UX.training workshop within the next year OR transfer the registration to the name of another person from your organization.

* Refunds given will be returned less fees charged by EventBrite for each registration.

Copyright Information

What's Okay

Purchasing multiple seats in the class to share knowlege with colleagues.
Being a part of a group where each person is enrolled in the training.
Bringing what you've learned back to your team for applied use.

What's NOT Okay

Purchasing multiple licenses or seats to re-sell them to someone else.
Purchasing one license (seat in the training) and sharing it with a group.
Duplicating the Program Materials for financial gain or commercial purposes, including creating derivitive training materials.
Reproducing, in any form, the Program Materials.

UX.training, a product of Normal Modes LLC, owns the intellectual property rights including but not limited to all copyright and trademark rights, unless otherwise specified, in these and any associated materials (collectively, the "Program Materials.") The Program Materials are and remain the property of Normal Modes LLC. By completing this program, Normal Modes LLC grants you, as an individual, a license to use a copy of the Program Materials in your work. For more information on our copyrights, please visit Copyright Information.