The document discusses using personas and storyboards in the contextual design process to develop a minimum viable product (MVP). It provides templates for creating personas with demographics, attributes, goals, and scenarios. Storyboards are described as informal walkthroughs of how a user would interact with a system through a sequence of steps to accomplish tasks based on the persona profiles. The document emphasizes using personas and storyboarding to develop specific user scenarios that the product will solve based on insights from user research before building an initial MVP.

1. Personas and Storyboards
Todd Warren
1/22/2013

2. NUvention Web in Context
•Persona •Detailed •Revenue
•Value Prop
•Target Value Prop Model
•Target Market
Problem Segment •Initial Initial •Potential
Customer MVP
ID Definition •Storyboards Product Pitch Channels
•Basic
•Landing •Customer •Product
Scenario
Page Trial Refinement
Scenario Slice MVP

3. Contextual Design to MVP
Value Proposition and User Scenario
Interviews Models Personas Storyboards MVP
Affinity Persona
Description and user
Insight 1 Insight 2 Insight 3 scenarios
Data Data Data
Goals
Data Data Data
Tasks
Sequence
Trigger Event
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3

4. Building a “Persona”
• Composite users for your system
• Can be for different roles (think end users,
influencer, decision maker, economic buyer) or
for distinct types of users (students vs.
parents)

5. PERSONA TEMPLATE
Name
Description: Key Tasks
Vivid description of the kind of user What they do
User Scenario:
Aspirational view of how they would use the
product/interact and receive the marketing message
Basic Demographics:
How old is the segment? More likely male or
female? From where in the world?
Attributes
Key Facts or attributes about User Goals:
the user in the segment What the user is trying to accomplish relative to the
relative to the product product

6. Example: Mobile Market circa
2007

7. US/Europe end-user segmentationthe most feature-rich devices
DFs seek
many features device fanatics equipped with the latest technology. They
Productivity while mobile is key for Business are focused more focused on
Power Users. A device must help them be communication than boosting productivity.
12.4M
more efficient and effective when mobile. (4%)
9M
personal entertainment
business
(3%) enthusiasts
power users Personal Entertainment
15.9M Enthusiasts like their phones
(6%) 59.4M to provide a means for
social (21%) communication and be a
source of mobile
communicators entertainment.
SCs want a device that is fashionable and allows them to
coordinate their social life with friends and family.
primarily for primarily for
work 97.9M personal
(34%)
organizers
Organizers tend to use a smaller set of
features. They want a phone that allows 92.3M
them to connect with friends, family or work (32%)
via voice or SMS. infrequent users
Infrequent Users view mobile phones
primarily as a safety device and as such, use
all features, including voice, infrequently.
style/industrial design highly important
few features

8. Windows Mobile Persona Family
Marco April Peter Eva
(BPU) (BPU) (ORG) (SC)
• Senior manager • Field-based sales, has no • Small business owner
• Connecting & sharing
• Frequent global travel – corporate office of her • ORG who values some with social network
multiple language and own advanced productivity
• Phone is fun – explore &
timezone support • Manages complex LOB features
discover
• Has admin. assistant – data • Ease of use and
• Phone is extension of self
needs to delegate • Fully managed by IT simplicity are king
– style & personalization
• IT managed to meet (front-door) • No internal IT support,
• Desire for rich media
security requirements • Working mother – draws no servers
• Rapid feature adoption
(back-door) clear work/personal
• Single, active social life boundary

9. Persona Examples
AlumSocial: An online application for
universities to foster connection and
information sharing with alums

10. TARGET ALUMNI USER
Persona: Jeff
Key Tasks
Description: • Register
Jeff is a 2006 graduate of Northwestern University, •Join hockey club
with an economics major. He now lives and works in affinity group
San Francisco with his girlfriend Stephanie and their •Find an alumni
dog Patches. friend
• Read newsfeed of
User Scenario: reunion information
Jeff likes interacting with his undergrad friends and •Find events in San
hanging out with other NU alums in San Francisco, Francisco
Basic Demographics: especially hockey buddies. He wants to learn about
Age:27
Occupation: Business Analyst
and participate in events, but doesn’t have the time or
Hometown: East Hanover, NJ initiative to go find or plan them. He knows his 5th
Marital Status: Single
year class reunion is coming up and wants to know
more about it.
Attributes
•Social Follower User Goals:
•Easy-going •Stay in touch with old friends
•Analytical •Be informed about alumni events in his city
•Has 200+ Facebook friends •Understand what’s going on at the university
•Find out about his class reunion

11. TARGET ALUMNI SUPER-USER
Persona: Carolyn
Key Tasks
Description: • Maintain class
Carolyn is a 2006 graduate of Northwestern University, reunion page
with a biology major. She lives in Virginia, works at a • Recruit classmates
pharmaceutical company, takes gourmet cooking to join the NU
classes and volunteers at a local middle school. network
• Plan an event
User Scenario: • Put updates on the
Carolyn was very involved in NU campus life and newsfeed
wants to sustain the community beyond graduation. • Communicate with
Basic Demographics: She uses AlumSocial to organize NU alum events in university planners
Age:27
Occupation: Pharma Account Rep.
Virginia and was selected to organize her 5 year class
Hometown: Chicago, IL reunion. She wants to use AlumSocial as a planning
Marital Status: Single
and communication tool to inform the alums in her
class year about the reunion.
Attributes
•High Energy User Goals:
•Social Planner •Coordinate events with local alums.
•Super Friendly •Build attendance at the class reunion.
•400+ Facebook Friends •Maintain active involvement in alumni events
•Find and communicate with a variety of classmates.

12. TARGET UNIVERSITY USER
Persona: Susan
Key Tasks
Description: • Update university
Susan has been in the Office of Alumni Relations at NU news
for the last seven years. She’s charged with building • Recruit alums to
alumni engagement at NU through communication, join the network
events and coordinating class reunions. • Plan events
• Gain insights from
User Scenario: user behavior
Susan is looking for a platform that allows her to analysis
easily communicate with alumni and generate • Communicate with
Basic Demographics: excitement around university events. With many alumni planners
Age:45
Occupation: Alumni Relations Director
other concerns, she needs a tool that is easy to use
Hometown: Saginaw, MI and effectively manages itself. She will use
Marital Status: Married
AlumSocial as another avenue to engage the
university community in ongoing communication.
Attributes
•Networker User Goals:
•Organized •Connect alums to the university through social media.
•Super Friendly •Build attendance at alumni events.
•Late-adopter •Increase alumni engagement with the university.
•Gain insights on alumni experience and wants

13. Storyboard
• Walkthrough of use of a
particular system
• Informal
• Usually shared in
common place across a
team
• Modeled on frames in a
“comic” strip or the way
a TV commercial is
pitched

14. Where to go
Core Travelers
Publish Trip
Storyboard
Find People @ Destination
Plan a trip on facebook with “Serendigital”
Notify and respond

15. Storyboard
Plan a trip on facebook with Serendigital
Notify and respond
Publish Trip
Find People @ Destination
Pick friends to
Where to go
Core Travelers
Search Search in Decide scope Look
Location Friends of publishing notify
through
Send FB
Enter Send Send Link network Message
Description Notification
Find Manage
Specify Dates Manage Hometowns response
Publish on my Accept
Look at
Profile
status

16. Storyboarding Scenarios
• Expand from the data about the user and your
canvas and value prop, to develop specific
scenarios/tasks your product will solve
• Build from the affinity information and
sequences
• Use your “personas” (roles) as the guideline
• Describes the process, human interactions,
and UI that surround and envelope your
product

17. Contextual Design to MVP
Value Proposition and User Scenario
Interviews Models Personas Storyboards MVP
Affinity Persona
Description and user
Insight 1 Insight 2 Insight 3 scenarios
Data Data Data
Goals
Data Data Data
Tasks
Sequence
Trigger Event
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3