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Persona development

Qualitative research | In-depth interviews

Held in 2023 for ident, an online dentistry course platform.

The problem

The team had little knowledge of users, their difficulties, dreams and characteristics. This generated a lack of alignment in products, communication and marketing actions , which blocked growth.

Objective

  • This research was carried out with the aim of understanding the profile of iDent's different audiences , mapping their needs, objectives, frustrations and characteristics.

  • This understanding enables smarter decision-making, resource optimization, and more growth.

Results

  • The insights generated by the research were shared with the team and board and guided strategic decisions, resulting in innovations such as an AI platform that answers questions in real time and others that are yet to come;
     

  • Knowledge about the specific needs and challenges of each persona has impacted the production of content, which is now more diversified. The courses maintain an average rating of 4.9/5;
     

  • There was a significant increase in follower engagement on Instagram.

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Read on to see the process and insights!

People involved

  • Me (UX Researcher): responsible for planning the research, developing the scripts, recruiting respondents, conducting interviews, analyzing results and producing reports.
     

  • Chief Creative Officer: responsible for approving scripts and reports.
     

  • Product Owner: responsible for establishing persona topics, approving roadmaps and reports.

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After this and other projects I developed my skills and now I conduct research independently.

Methodology

Research model

  • The chosen research model was that of in-depth qualitative interview research, because:

    • This model allows us to obtain in-depth answers, which enable a broad understanding of users.

Sample

  • 18 users with active subscription, being:

    • 5 students;

    • 5 professionals;

    • 5 candidates;

    • 3 recent graduates.

Established with the purpose of exploring each user profile and understanding their particularities.

Process steps

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  • Preparation of scripts;
     

  • Recruitment;
     

  • Conducting interviews;
     

  • Analysis of qualitative data;
     

  • Report production.

Process

Preparation of the Script

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To begin, I will discuss the creation of the script for these interviews.

I created the questions to be asked in the interview in Notion, based on the topics to be investigated, defined by the Product Owner.

The script was validated with the leaders and adjustments were made and incorporated into the final version.

Recruitment

  • Recruitment had two stages:

    • Sending emails to the user base, according to the sample;

    • After email, contact via WhatsApp.

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I prepared all the recruitment texts, with the approval of the leaders.

Conducting Interviews

The interviews were conducted via video call on Google Meet.

 

I conducted the interviews in a semi-structured manner, following the script, but adapting the order and asking additional questions when necessary.

 

I chose this approach to have a categorization of questions, but with the flexibility to make them more dynamic and delve deeper into topics when possible.

Qualitative data analysis

It's time to show the analysis process!

First, I transcribed the interviews with the help of AI.

After transcribing, I analyzed them using Condens, assigning codes to excerpts from the interviews :

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Excerpt from an already encoded interview.
Click this link to open the image in its original size.

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Process carried out to highlight important excerpts from the interviews and identify their main themes.

After all the interviews were coded, still in Condens, I grouped the different excerpts into an affinity map:

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One of the groupings of interview excerpts.
Click this link to open the image in its original size.

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This grouping was done with the purpose of finding patterns and generating insights .

Production of persona sheets

After the analysis was completed, I documented each persona in Notion, based on the analysis data. A file was created for each persona with the following information:

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Example of a persona file, the original cannot be disclosed because it is confidential.
Click this link to open the image in its original size.

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The information categories were defined by the Product Owner.

Challenges & learnings

  • Recruitment was difficult and long, especially for the recent graduated persona, which is one of the smallest audiences;
     

  • After the challenge faced in this recruitment and in the previous research, brand perception, we adopted new strategies for recruitment:
     

    • Instead of sending an email, we placed a pop-up survey on the platform, inviting people to participate in the research and asking for their phone number;
       

    • Obtain the phone number directly from the database, through segmentation, and approach via WhatsApp;
       

    • The post-survey contact strategy has proven to be more effective, as people are more open to conversation.
       

  • By understanding the different needs and styles of personas, I was able to improve my approach to recruiting and conducting interviews.

Insights

Now it’s time to share the main insights this research has brought me!​

  • Students seek to deepen their knowledge and clarify doubts. They feel insecure about clinical practice and point out the cost of materials as a major challenge in college;
     

  • Professionals want to improve their skills and stay up to date. Their biggest challenges are attracting clients and the lack of time for study and even leisure;
     
  • Candidates, who may or may not have a degree, intend to prepare for the exams by acquiring and deepening the knowledge necessary to pass . Their main objective is financial stability and the lack of time is also a problem for this group;
     
  • New graduates seek improvement and practical knowledge to feel confident in providing services. The biggest challenge they face is the difficulty in getting hired or low pay.

Conclusion

  • The research achieved its objective by investigating and revealing the profile of ident's audiences;
     

  • The knowledge generated is available in an accessible way to the entire team and directors, serving as a basis for making well-informed and strategic decisions ;
     

  • I made recommendations, some of which are listed below :
     

    • Communication and marketing campaigns segmented according to personas, which address their specific needs;
       

    • Personalized and humanized service that considers the needs and expectations of each persona;
       

    • Diversified courses that meet the specific demands of each persona.
       

    • Develop quick content consumption formats that meet users’ lack of time;
       

    • Implement a way to resolve queries quickly and efficiently ;
       

    • I recommended that quantitative research be carried out to validate the hypotheses raised;
       

      • The objective is to increasingly adapt the platform to the needs of users , increasing their loyalty.

Contact & Resume

General CV

Credits for images used on the website pages: - @Kaminsky - Figma Community - Patrick Perkins - Unsplash - LinkedIn Sales Solutions - Unsplash - Jeshoots.com - Unsplash - Undraw - Iconify - Vecteezy

Julia Abreu

| UX Researcher

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