IoT – Personas and user needs

So this latest week has been on a familiar topic – personas. It’s been fun thinking though what types of personas might use our product. We pivoted from a B2B solution to a B2C solution — helping people organize their out-of-control closets.

The Personas are fun – Fashionista, Shoe collector, Ms. McKinsey, Down-sizer, Mr. Hoodie, Ms. Yoga pants. Then the people “below the fold” — like the CMO, bloggers, etc. People that are a part of your “ecosystem”. Like that expanded definition of persona.

It’s also been useful to think about personas in terms of their goals and needs – why do people come to your product and what to they need to do? Forces through a thinking of the psychology of people who say they want to organize their closets

My insights this week:

• Thinking about user needs is hard to do — getting real data is key. Started reading Lean Customer Development.
• Personas extend beyond the end-user and include internal customers as well as those in your ecosystem
• You have to walk through the IOT stack to figure out the user needs at each part of the stack
• Concept of a MVP (minimally viable product) is both new and familiar

IoT technology stack – image courtesy of Daniel Elizalde

Hacking Momma project continues — she fell in her bedroom again trying to do something she shouldn’t. Gotta get moving on this sooner rather than later!