User-Centered Persona Cards
The Design Problem
Teams across different departments at Commonwealth work with internal or external audiences, with the goal of creating content, products and services, and communications that align with their audience's mindset. Understanding and empathizing with these audiences leads to better-informed decisions and more meaningful experiences.
The User-Centered Persona Cards Deck is designed to help individuals define who they are designing for and create solutions that reflect user needs. It also helps create a shared frame of reference and maintain alignment when solving problems. Creating a unified system to manage tasks provides visibility into in-progress requests and helps balance workload among team members.
The Approach
As part of the Advisor Experience Strategy team, I worked on the project from its initial stage through to the actual design, helping to determine what elements to consider and what format to choose.
One important aspect was making sure we included segments, archetypes, scenarios, personas, and traits in the final product. When identifying the right persona, it was essential to consider what problem the product was intended to solve and who we were solving for.
During the initial phase, we worked on the Archetype Canvas, Jobs to Be Done, and Pain Chain. I built initial slides that helped clarify our shared knowledge on the topic.
I collaborated on creating initial prototypes of the personas to better understand what information to include, and I brainstormed ideas for the format. Once the team had a more complete prototype, we printed the deck and presented it to a group of five stakeholders from different departments. Testing the tool was crucial for gathering reactions and insights on both the prototype and the approach used. We collected findings that were useful for enhancing the project, such as integrating additional archetypes and traits.
The Deliverables
The final deliverable is a card deck consisting of a set of cards accompanied by instructions. These instructions are included to help explain the order in which to select and arrange the cards. There are also tabloid-size print placemats that guide users on how to arrange the cards depending on their goal and include optional activities.
Cards are divided into the following types, with each color assigned to distinguish them:
- Segment
- Archetype
- Persona: illustration of a persona with name to make the scenario more relatable
- Traits: each trait card can be reversed to see the opposite trait
- Commonwealth: specific to roles at the home office
- Scenarios: Perspective and user need that apply to personas
