Opportunity

The Responsys personas project came about when I saw a clear lack of understanding and knowledge of the users of the Responsys platform. I embarked on a mission to dive deep and learn about our users in order to educate the teams who define and develop the product.

Research

The information used to craft the set of personas came from a variety of sources. Since this was a side project, I started by reviewing documentation gathered from previous focus groups, user research and usability sessions we held in the past. This information was vital for me to craft a plan for my research efforts.

User Interviews

I interviewed 23 people from different backgrounds who, in one way or another, contributed to the launching of a marketing campaign. Through these interviews, I gain an understanding of:

Their day to day tasks
How they used the platform
What inspires them in their careers
What motivates them at work

Analysis

During this phase, I looked at each discipline on its own and identified common behavioral patterns amongst the people I interviewed. This exercise led me to understand the role that each person played in the process of sending an email campaign and how they utilized the platform.

Results

I identified 11 personas who are involved in the creation, scheduling and sending of an email campaign. Five of these, utilize the platform to some capacity. The other six are essential to the process of sending a message but are not necessarily platform users, therefore, they are referred to as contributing personas. The stories I drafted included information about their background, day to day tasks, career goals and motivations. Moreover, the document highlighted technical skills, marketing industry knowledge and the user behavior patterns of the platform.

Uses

Understanding what role each persona plays in the lifecycle of an email campaign is essential to understanding the offerings of the platform. To help product managers, engineers and designers visualize the eco-system, I created charts that demonstrate how all these personas interact with each other and identified who was on the customer side vs. the Responsys side.

Mapping the user journey to the personas has helped defined and design products and workflows.