1. Why is it important to understand the people for whom you are solving problems?

2. Definition: Customer persona
A fictional character who represents the essential traits of your customers.

3. Gathering customer information
Primary research
How:
Talk directly with your customers
Benefits:
Great for understanding values and pain points
Limitations:
Time consuming
Small sample size
Secondary research
How:
Locate and interpret existing data (StatsCan, IDC, etc.)
Benefits:
Great for understanding broad trends (e.g., 60% of schools struggle with…)
Limitations:
Limited insight into individual needs

4. multiple customer personas.
Building multiple customer personas
There will be different “customer segments” who engage with your product.
So let’s create
multiple customer personas.

5. Customer persona template
Name:__________________________
Customer segment: ______________________
Who are they?
Purchasing decisions?
Picture
Sample quotation
Goals & pain points
A blank customer profile template is available for download from MaRS. You can find it in the “Activities for Research and Discovery” section of the Building Future Leaders website.

6. Name:__________________________
Philip Exampleton
Customer segment: ______________________
Classroom teacher
Who are they?
28 years old
Has been teaching grades 7 & 8 for 3 years
Works at a medium-sized public school in a lower socio-economic neighbourhood
Purchasing decisions?
Tries new resources based on colleague recommendations
Highly active on Twitter: #edchat, #gafe
Can request small amounts of money for resources, but has no control over budgets
Goals & pain points
Highly artistic and creative, Philip wants his students to try new things, but is often frustrated by the lack of time and money to do so.
“I really want to make a difference at my school, and I want my superintendent to help me make a difference in other schools as well.”
This is the end-user of an educational product.

7. Who are they? Purchasing decisions?
Name:__________________________
Monica Profiletti
Customer segment: ______________________
Superintendent
Who are they?
49 years old
Oversees 7 elementary and 4 secondary schools
Was principal of an elementary school for 4 years before moving to her current position
Purchasing decisions?
Attends 4 to 5 educational conferences per year to learn about new resources
Has a budget specific to educational technologies
Bulk purchases must be approved by a committee
Prefers to work with official vendors
Goals & pain points
Monica wants to help her teachers with innovative new classroom resources, but is often frustrated by slow adoption rates.
“I want my schools to take full advantage of new technologies that increase learning, but the costs have to make sense.”
This is the purchaser of an educational product.

8. Who are you solving problems for?
Name:________________________
Customer segment: ______________________
Who are they?
Purchasing decisions?
Picture
Sample quotation
Goals & pain points
A blank customer profile template is available to download from MaRS. You can find it in the “Activities for Research and Discovery” section of the Building Future Leaders website.