A template for developing personas through to features for MVP, by Advisor Ajay Revels.

1. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Customer Development
Photos
Pain
People
Place
Map
Persona
MVP
Tools to connect customer insights  MVP  conversions
Ajay Revels
Design Researcher

2. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Photos
Pain
- kind
- strength
- workarounds
People
- interactions
- activities
- tools / devices
Place
- home
- public
- work
Explore the activities of People who might be your target.
ajay@politemachines.com

3. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Pain
What is their Pain or Problem?

4. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
People
Who has the problem, need or goal?
Role: Type
- Task:
- Task:
- Goal:
- Fear:
- Solution:
Role: Type
- Task: raise infants, toddlers
- Task: help kids with lessons
- Goal: raise smart kids
- Fear: failure in school.
- Solution: read to kids, flash cards
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Role: Type
- Task:
- Task
- Goal:
- Fear:
-Solution:
People
Who has the problem and how bad is it? Project Name
Pain statement
Picture Picture

5. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Place
Where is their problem felt or experienced?
Place: Location
- Task: what is taking place?
- Actors: who is participating?
- Tools: what objects are used?
- Time:- when is this place used?
Place: Location
- Task:
- Actors:
- Tools:
- Time:-
-
Place: Location
- Task:
- Actors:
- Tools:
-Time:-
-
Picture Picture
Project Name
Pain statement

6. ajay@politemachines.com
Map ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
I
Pain
Describe the key Pain that
your target audience is
experiencing written from
their POV…”I am not able
to…”. Keep the description
short – one or two
sentences.
person
person
person
person
person
place
person
place
place
place
place
place
place
place
place
place
place
place
1. Fill in
the Pain, the People
you’re exploring and the
Places where they might
experience the Pain.
2. Eliminate
the Places and
People that are
not well connected
to the Pain.
person

7. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Target Persona (example)
Who are we building for?
Business Problem or Observation:
We noticed that when people visit new cities, they
like to find hidden communities who can provide
access to authentic, unique, adventures. Hotel
concierges can provide tours but not local insiders.
Our Hypothesis is:
We believe that [ business travelers ? ]
Have this problem [ can’t find local insiders ]
Which can be solved with [ Insider Finder tool ? ]
And measured by [ # of insider matches? ]
What I do (when I travel)
- Visit NY, Chicago, London monthly
- Book 2-weeks in advance
- Stay at hotels near the client office
- .In meetings all day. Have ½ day free
- Sometimes bring my spouse
What I need / My goals:
Age: 30 + , single or married
Income: $60k / year
Work: I sell copy machines
We’re looking for local mahjong players
in the area. Do you know of any?
- Have fun , not get ripped off
- meet interesting new people
- Play in Mahjong match back home
- Improve my Chinese skills
- Find name, location, expertise, bio
- Read testimonials, reviews
- See costs, availability
Find insiders
Search function
Schedule a tourCommunicate with insiders
Insider profile Message dialog
TASKSFEATURESMetric
Tour Scheduler Calendar module
- Ask a question
- Confirm booking and payment
- Exchange info securely
- Review available time slots
- Select from offerings, sign up
- Send item to my calendar
With (product name) Local Insider, (persona name) Jules Eckhart is able to…
# searches / day/ user # clicks / day / user # messages / day / user # selected / day / user # selected / day / user

8. ajay@politemachines.com
ITP / LeanLaunchPad 2014
Initial Idea (MVP)
What should we build first?
- Find name, location, expertise, bio
- Read testimonials, reviews
- See costs, availability
Find “Insiders”
Communicate with “Insiders”
- Ask a question
- Confirm booking and payment
- Exchange info securely
Schedule a tour
- Review available time slots
- Select from offerings, sign up
- Send item to my calendar
- Watch video or demo
- Sign up for a newsletter or email
- Take a survey and provide email
Indicate my interest in service Landing page
Service prototype
Jules Eckhart need Jules Eckhart Tasks MVP Feature
Message mock up
New MVP idea
Conversion
• CAC through lo
fi marketing test
• % uniques to
conversion
New Task
- describe what Jules would do
- text
Age: 30 + , single or married
Income: $60k / year
Work: I sell copy machines
We’re looking for local mahjong players
in the area. Do you know of any?
• Engagement
rates
• % uniques to
conversion
• % sign up vs.
uniques
• % sign up vs.
video/demo

9. ajay@politemachines.com
Strategic design researcher with 14 years expertise in
leading fieldwork to uncover business & customer insights
and translating them into holistic digital experiences across
mobile devices, kiosks, web and offline services.
ajay@politemachiens.com
Bio: Ajay Revels
Airports, universities,
hospitals, trading floors,
banks, hedge funds,
consumer trade shows,
news rooms and private
homes in the US, Britain
and Japan.
Where I work
Ethnographic observations,
interviews, process mapping,
sketching, games, experience
modeling, participatory
design, iterative LeanUX
experiments, Agile stories and
design validation.
What I doWho I work with
Product owners, user
experience designers,
developers, data analysts,
market researchers and
other stakeholders in
enterprises, non-profits
and startups.