Personas are fictional characters who have the sort of attributes and goals that a typical user of a site must have. Just as lead characters in a novel or a film work best when they are well-rounded rather than just stereotypes it's important for designers to put flesh on the bones of the personas so that they are believable - the sort of people we might know and recognise. Remember the Oxo family from TV adverts in the 80s? Linda Bellingham, the actress who played the mother, was not a stereotype; she was a real living person, perhaps a friend or the mother of a friend. Research and experience has shown that design works best if designers have in mind real individuals rather than a homogenous mass.
Sereno is currently working with a charity whose mission is related to help women in trouble. The site had two primary audiences: women seeking help and those (usually women) seeking to support. We understood what this meant in terms of "user goals" and the like. The two sets of women would be coming to the site with very different sets of expectations. One set of women might potentially be in distress, and the other curious about the work of the charity and how they might support it.
We ran a half day workshop with the client to create a set of personas who had depth and individuality and a reason for seeking out and returning to the site. We developed their socio-economic, ethnic and domestic backgrounds, where they lived, their jobs and interests, their issues and challenges. The personas were diverse: a high flying lawyer, a student, a young mother a middle-aged mother and a social worker. It took a lot of discussion and debate. The workshop was a hugely enjoyable and creative experience during which we thought deeply and, despite the seriousness of the charity's mission, laughed a lot. And the outcome? We created a rich and diverse set of personas who were well-rounded and believable.
The chances are that if you've used a website and been impressed with the way it has helped you achieve what you set out to do, it was designed with someone like you in mind. That is the power of personas.