A persona is a realistic representation of a typical user. They are used to help mitigate the designers’ assumptions and biases about his or her customers. When we were creating our personas, it was important for us to consider the following two questions: how they relate to our product and what problem(s) do they want to be solved with the use of our product.
Listed below are the personas of Tari, Evelyn, and Emma.
1. Tari, Latino, 21, Undergrad Student
Customer Profile: Tari loves makeup and wears it everyday. However, she doesn’t wear foundation often because she wants to preserve her nice skin. However, because she doesn’t have much money to spend, she tends depend on friends and family to gift her makeup.
- Likes online shopping and going to beauty supply stores (i.e. Sally Beauty)
- Can’t leave a department store without looking at beauty products
- Doesn’t know her overtones, but she does know her undertones
- Skeptical that online shade won’t match actual shade
- Would probably look at shades in store to verify it’s correct
- Uses the same brands every time
- Wants to get samples to figure out how makeup works
User Needs:
- Ablity to compare the various products simontaneously
- Ablity to search various locations that have the foundation in stock and to find the cheapest price
- Would like to see the brand’s detailed information so she can support brands with postive ethics (blacked-owned, cruelty free, etc)
2. Evelyn, White-Asian, 20, Undergrad Student
Customer Profile: Evelyn has been wearing mascara and eyeliner since 9th grade. She didn’t start wearing foundation until she got to college. The type/amount of makeup she wears day to day varies depending on if she has to work or is hanging out with friends.
- Waitress at a sports bar
- Does eyebrows every day
- Wears foundation to work (2 to 3 times a week)
- Wears makeup full makeup only on the weekends
- Blushes easily, so occasionally wears full coverage
- Gets $45-50 foundation, but also likes to get samples
- Makeup owned:
- Color changes based on the season so she gets 2 different shades
- Liquid x2
- 2 different shades of powder x2
- Bronzer x2
- All makeup is hand-me-down from friends
- Only buys eyeshadow and foundation (likes Estee Lauder) from department stores but buys everything else (eyeliner, mascara, etc) from drug stores
User Needs:
- Wants list of ingredients so she knows if it’s healthy for your skin
- Wants to know features of makeup (long-lasting, degree of coverage, etc)
- Would like to be able to buy makeup online rather than always going to the store
- Needs reliable color matching
- Ability to find/explore various shades depending on the season
- Ability to compare different forms of foundation
3. Emma, Asian, 20, Undergrad Student
Customer Profile: Emma does not know how to apply makeup properly so she does not wear any. Currently, she only wears makeup to cover blemishes and depends on her friends to apply full-face makeup for special occasions. She does, however, have an interest in purchasing makeup and learning how to apply it.
- Has bought stuff from Sephora
- Eyelashes are too short to do mascara
- “I’ll only use it [foundation] for special occasions, so I might as well buy a good brand”
- Foundation tends to expire before she finishes the bottle
- Doesn’t want to spend $50 on foundation
User Needs:
- Wants tips/videos on makeup application
- Wants to see recommendations, ratings, and reviews
- Descriptions of foundation
- Degree of coverage
- Moisturizer, SPF, etc.
- Location and price comparison of products