27 July 2005

Within our personas and scenarios, the people and their stories are not arbitrary. They are stories of the lives of our clientÂ?s current and potential customers, and they serve as comprehensive guides to how our clients should interact with those customers, in the moment or over a lifetime, to profit their business. Three years ago, personas and scenarios were Â?a process stepÂ? in our iterative, user-centered development process, whereas today they are the platform upon which many of our insights are communicated, and our solutions are modeled. Over the past few years, they have risen in importance and become a primary tool for communicating data analysis, strategic business frameworks, new product and service concepts, and cross-channel brand experiences....

....Customer-centric discussions, strategy and results continue to increase their prevalence in the boardrooms. Personas are a clear, comprehensive, human way to tell those stories.

Experience Planning Group, edited by Parrish Hanna, "Customer Storytelling at the Heart of Business Success," Boxes and Arrows, 17 Jul 2005.