User Personas
As designers, we find creating user personas a useful tool when establishing a brand identity. It is always useful to have a person in mind when making choices around brand direction.
But, as a small agency, we often have clients who don’t have a huge budget to spend on market research and interviews. So, how do you create user personas within brand without a market research budget? We think we have the answer!
The UK population is over 67 million, with a huge amount of diversity within its shores. Whilst it would be impossible to design pre-built personas for every sector of society, Acorn has segmented the majority of the UK population by postcode. We’ve used the information provided by Acorn to develop brand persona posters for 59 of these postcode segments, from ‘exclusive enclaves’ to ‘deprived areas and high-rise flats’ and everything in between.
We hope that many designers can utilise them as a starting point for developing user personas within brand.
download user persona document
Our user persona posters
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Omar
Omar is a hedge fund manager and high rate taxpayer. He is well educated and enjoys a luxury lifestyle; he lives in a large house and has plenty of disposable income. He lives to work, whilst most use their spare time for entertainment and leisure, Omar spends his time monitoring investment portfolios and keeping up to date with the latest news. Social media is for making business contacts, it is not a leisure activity.
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Michael
Michael is a company director with a six figure salary. He spends his time between his luxury London apartment and his chalet in the south of France. He invests his money in shares as well as his personal pension. He is one of the lucky few who have paid off their mortgage. He works hard, but also likes to travel, read blogs, play games, listen to music and as a typical Brit, likes to always know the weather forecast!
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David
David enjoys a luxurious lifestyle with a sprawling house in a well-to-do neighbourhood. He spends his money on expensive holidays, luxury cards, golf, wine and antiques. With a good education and an established job he can afford to spend lavishly. David often keeps himself to himself with his downtime activities more likely to include reading the Financial Times than sharing his views on facebook!
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Andrew
Andrew has lived in his large Victorian house for many years. He retired early but always sought to be cautious with his finances. He has a large savings pot; stocks and shares, unit trusts and national savings. Andrew is careful in every sense of the word. He holds numerous insurance policies and he will research every single purchase decision. However, this doesn’t stop Andrew enjoying the odd trip to Waitrose and John Lewis or nights out to the theatre with his wife, Elizabeth.
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Charles
Charles spends what feels like a large proportion of his time in his company car, travelling to and from work. He runs a successful business which has granted him a large detached farmhouse in the countryside. He spends his free time with his wife gardening, walking and enjoying the Sunday paper.
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Victoria
Victoria has recently purchased a five bed detached house on a modern estate. Every room is filled with technology and a requirement for super fast broadband! Together with her partner and their teenage children, Victoria enjoys watching films, playing console games and eating out. She enjoys her work and feels confident in her family’s future.
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James
Well educated and established within his career, James lives in a fancy apartment close to good restaurants and coffee shops. He is often found on his phone reading the news, listening to podcasts and checking the latest sports results. He loves technology and is the first to own all the latest gadgets.
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Annette
Since Annette’s grown up children have left home she enjoys a slower pace of life. She now works part-time, spending the rest of the time travelling, going to the cinema and having lunch dates with friends. Annette is financially secure and lives in a large semi-detached house with a short term left on the mortgage.
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Aarav
Both Aarav and his wife have senior managerial jobs. They live on the edge of town, in a large detached house in a new build estate with their school aged children. Aarav is a fan of online shopping although favours a department store for the more personal approach. Aarav likes to keep trim although he is also partial to eating out.
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Jane
Jane lives in a large, old, traditional property in a village. Before she retired, Jane was a higher rate taxpayer with a well-qualified professional job. She enjoys wildlife, photography and is part of a walking club. Jane can often be found listening to the radio and favours the odd glass of wine.
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Derek
A telegraph reader and a Sainsbury’s shopper, Derek is enjoying his retirement. He owns his own semi-detached home and feels financially comfortable. Derek considers himself to be in good health, although he does have high blood pressure. He loves gardening, days out and going to the theatre. He sometimes skypes with friends but spends less time online than the average person.
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Kenneth
Kenneth has lived in his bungalow for many years. He owns it outright. Kenneth supplements his private pension with his shares and bond returns and ensures he keeps up to date with his investments by monitoring the financial pages. He is not particularly keen on online shopping, although buying gardening tools are the exception to the rule! He is much more keen on physical goods and his preference is to spend time in the great outdoors spotting wildlife and gardening.
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Penelope
Penelope enjoys a comfortable retirement in a small but perfectly formed flat with sea views. She has everything she could need at close proximity. She likes to look after herself and is an avid subscriber to beauty magazines. Whilst Penelope considers herself to be a healthy eater, she is partial to the odd glass of wine, whilst her husband may occasionally sneak out to Greggs!
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Molly
Molly is a gym goer, adores winter skiing holidays and frequently goes to gigs and art galleries. She lives in a converted flat in a townhouse and appreciates how close she is to the hussle and bussle of the city. As a higher rate taxpayer she is financially comfortable but has a high cost of living. A lot of Molly’s life is online – she is glued to her smart phone!
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Samuel
Samuel is early in his career but has been able to buy a small shared ownership flat in the city. He earns well and is likely to move to a bigger place once he starts a family. Samuel is living a fast paced life and is interested in networking, travelling and sports. Samuel spends freely and ensures he makes the most of his holiday allowance!
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Joshua
Joshua has lived in the city since his first grad job after university. He’s bought a converted flat in a pre-1920 building and is slowly putting his stamp on it. Joshua spends a lot of his free time online. He watches films, plays games, listens to music and monitors his health and wellbeing apps. He’s the type to only pay off the minimum amount on his credit card each month, despite having a large wage.
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Silvand
Silvand rents a flat with a few other young professionals. She spends a large proportion of her life socialising and is always keen to find the next ‘eating experience’, pop up shop or try the latest dating app. Whilst Silvand has a job with good prospects, the current pay is average and it doesn’t leave her with a huge amount of disposable income. She pays the minimum balance off her credit card each month and lives in the moment.
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Jamie
Jamie lives in a fairly new semi-detached house with his young family. He has recently been promoted and juggles his career aspirations with family commitments. Whilst he feels like he is always working, he does carve out some down time by playing console games and watching films. Jamie loves a new gadget, and will treat himself to new technology every year.
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Jack
Jack shares a maisonette with his fiancé, which they are renting whilst saving for a deposit for a place of their own. He spends a lot of his time online, whether that’s playing games and watching films on his phone or doing a spot of gambling. Although Jack is saving for a new place, he still enjoys grabbing lunch from the local coffee shop and spending money on tech – but he will make use of all the vouchers he can get his hands on!
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Lauren
Lauren has just had her first child with her partner. She is in a rented house, in a nice neighbourhood – although she longs to buy in the fancier neighbourhood down the street! Their high rent means they have less disposable income, although Lauren will still make choices – like doing an online food shop – for ease. She makes use of being in an urban area by going to gigs, but spends most of her free time on her phone!
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Audrey
Audrey lives in a rural community where she knows everyone by name. She has lived in her large detached cottage for a number of years, and has nothing left to pay on her mortgage. She enjoys being in the great outdoors and would much rather garden, bird watch and walk than use technology. She might get her laptop out a couple of times a week, but only to get a job done, before it gets put away again!
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Timothy
Timothy lives in a substantial bungalow in a sparsely populated rural area that is fuelled by oil. He has a large family, and his household income is above average. He has never downloaded an app, in fact he doesn’t even own a smart phone. Although, given his rural location, he does find it convenient to bank online and monitor his investments.
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Steven
Steven is retired but has worked his entire life after leaving school with decent O levels. He owns a small semi-detached cottage in a quaint village with his wife and enjoys a slower pace of life. His hobbies include angling, wildlife and photography but he also likes reading his motoring magazines.
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Alison
Alison shares her house with her partner and their teenage children. She lives in a four bed detached house in suburbia and has a number of investments. Alison is an avid Daily Mail reader although reads most of her articles online. She also likes to online shop, particularly for fragrances, days out and wine. Despite not having a degree, she is hoping her children will go to university.
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Aaleyah
Aaleyah lives in a multicultural, middle class neighbourhood in a sizeable semi-detached house. She’s from a large family, and her household income is much higher than average. Whilst she doesn’t have as much insurance cover or pension provision as expected she would consider herself to be good with money. Aaleyah uses her smart phone to enter competitions, download coupons and vote in reality TV programmes and read online articles from the Guardian.
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Jenna
Jenna lives with her family in a neighbourhood that has a broad mix of people. She has a couple of kids, and whilst they own their 3 bed house, they sometimes feel a bit squeezed. Jenna has a professional job that she enjoys although she looks forward to a spot of high street shopping most weekends.
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Martin
Martin feels like he is a conventional Brit! He lives in a semi-detached house with his husband in suburbia which he has owned for sometime, and his household income is average. He loves a bit of DIY at the weekends, and reads the Daily Mail. Whilst he didn’t do his A levels, he’s got a good steady job in junior management.
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Jason
Jason and his partner work a number of jobs between them. As a member of the school PTA, Jason is a hands on Dad. He feels his time is always well spent, he’s got a good social life, looks after his health and earns enough to keep a roof over his head! Jason is known as a hard worker, and enjoys being able to say he owns his own home.
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Lynn
Lynn is an administrator with an adequate pension and some decent savings – although she definitely felt the dip in interest rates! Her children are no longer living with her, so she has a few spare bedrooms. But the grandchildren can make the most of them when they come to visit! Lynn is partial to an eBay session, and loves relaxing in front of the TV.
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Raymond
Raymond has been retired for quite a few years, and lives off his pension. He owns his own bungalow and enjoys a quieter pace of life. Most of his neighbours are in a similar situation as his, and together they enjoy a good catch up over gardening – always ensuring the front garden is immaculate! Raymond reads the Daily Mail and subscribes to food magazines. He also buys the odd travel magazine – but only for inspiration!
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Barbara
Barbara has recently downsized to a purpose built retirement village after the death of her husband Arthur. She enjoys a slower pace of life with very few outgoings. Although she does love to treat herself at M&S every now and again. Most of Barbara’s leisure activities are fairly senate. She enjoys the theatre, visiting museums, reading the Daily Telegraph and the very occasional coach holiday.
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Elizabeth
Elizabeth has just got on the housing ladder, an old terrace house that she looks forward to making her own. She has been saving up to buy the house since graduating so doesn’t spend much, although she does visit the Early Learning Centre and Disney Store for presents for her two young children. Elizabeth is often on her smartphone, with frequent use of apps around shopping, fashion, fitness and travel.
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Anthony
Anthony has purchased an affordable home on a new estate with his girlfriend Laura. Anthony started working straight after his A levels, whilst Laura did her degree, so they built up a healthy deposit. They enjoy eating fast food (KFC and McDonald’s are the favourites!), playing video games on the xbox and spending far too much money at DFS and Next home.
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Harrison
Harrison is a student living off his student loan, and living with a group of friends in student halls. Harrison spends a lot of time online for his coursework as well as for leisure; streaming TV, listening to iTunes or Spotify, buying clothes, reading the paper and playing games. He uses social media a lot – regularly follows celebrity pages and interacts with brands.
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Sophie
Sophie is a student living in a terrace house (during term time) with a group of friends. She lives on a street with a mix of other students and locals. In addition to her student loan, Sophie also borrows on her credit card, and regularly uses the overdraft on her account. She shops at Apple, TK Maxx, Starbucks and Burger King. She shares her entire life online, and regularly shares videos and photos with her followers.
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Alice
Alice is a recent graduate sharing a tenement flat with a group of friends. They’ve just moved to the city together and have active social lives. Alice spends heavily on her card, paying for event tickets, eating out and buying coffee. Alice is looking forward to her next holiday – backpacking in Asia, and her phone is full of apps for translations, sight seeing and maps in anticipation.
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Riley
Riley owns his own flat in a suburban area. He doesn’t expect to be there for long, but enjoys being on the first rung of the property ladder. He likes to keep fit and has multiple fitness apps downloaded on his phone. Riley has a job as a skilled manual labourer and is in no debt (bar the mortgage). To relax, he listens to music and plays games on his phone.
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Paul
Paul owns his house outright. Whilst the property is of a lower value than the others in the area, Paul is cautious with his finances and enjoys his reduced monthly outgoings. He also doesn’t own a credit card. Paul isn’t on social media and prefers printed media. He is partial to his TV magazines and printed copies of the Daily Mirror.
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Kerry
Kerry is a big fan of celebrities. She frequently watches Sky, reads women’s magazines and gets her news from the Daily Mirror. Kerry has a wide range of hobbies including watching Rugby League, playing Bingo and shopping. She lives in an area where it was easier to get on the property ladder, with many of her neighbours divorcees.
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Jazmin
Jazmin is a stay at home mum looking after her young family as well as her in-laws. Her husband’s income is low but they’ve still been able to save and own their own house, albeit on a long mortgage term. Jazmin lives in a multicultural area and is concerned about the level of crime, with high levels of mugging and robbery recorded. She spends a lot of time online and is highly social, participating in forums, commenting on blogs, downloading podcasts and posting reviews.
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Holly
Holly lives in an ex-council house in a rural location and her entire family lives close by. She works in an agricultural setting and has held the same job for a long time. Financially, she is coping, she has some savings in an ISA and although her job doesn’t pay much, she spends so infrequently, she has been able to save.
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Leanne
Leanne has a young family living in a house that was purchased through right to buy. She left school with a number of GCSE’s and works a skilled job. Leanne enjoys playing games online and often uploads video or musical content she has produced. Whilst her family has been refused credit and is struggling with repayments for another unsecured loan, Leanne ensures any spending isn’t excessive, with online shopping and gambling kept to a minimum.
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Lee
Lee purchased his house under right to buy and lives there with his partner and her children from a previous relationship. He likes to be careful with his finances, and doesn’t wish to rack up any debts. After completing his apprenticeship Lee has continued in his trade and has built up his skills and expertise over the years. His family often shop at Poundland, Primark and Peacocks and every now and again Lee enjoys a KFC or McDonald’s.
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Wang
Wang has a manual job which doesn’t pay more than the personal allowance. He lives in a mixed neighbourhood in a post war terrace, and sees his children for alternate weekends. He suffers from back pain brought on by diabetes which he thinks is made worse by his job. Wang reads The Star and The Sun to keep up to date with current affairs and mainly shops at Argos and Primark.
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Valerie
Valerie lives in a close knit community in a terrace that she rents from a social housing provider. She often pops down the town to Superdrug and Greggs and she also enjoys watching television and doing the polls. Valerie very rarely spends time online, and even then only at the local library. Unfortunately her health is currently suffering so she doesn’t get out as much as she’d like to.
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Grace-Ann
Grace-Ann lives in a retirement flat amongst a high proportion of other OAP’s. She lives alone, and is grateful for her state pension and disability payments. Grace-Ann is less confident with finances as she left school before any formal exams, but she is never in debt. She doesn’t own a credit card, in fact, she hasn’t ever used the internet. Her preference is for face to face meetings and the more traditional technologies.
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Joel
Joel lives in a smaller semi detached house that he rents from the council. He is a cautious person, with concerns around crime levels in his area. He feels unsafe most of the time and wished the police would do a better job. He suffers from a number of health problems and has therefore swapped his factory job for a clerical one in a nearby office block. He lives a quiet life, and will sometimes go fishing by himself to relax.
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Shirley
Shirley manages on her state pension, she is a widower and lives in a purpose built flat that she rents from a social housing provider. Shirley enjoys a slow pace of life, reading magazines, watching a good drama on TV and occasionally going along to a bingo night. Shirley has a few health issues but doesn’t let that stop her enjoying the small pleasures of life.
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Amelia
Amelia lives in a purpose built block of flats fairly central to the town centre and close to her boyfriend, Dave. Amelia works in a shop which is within walking distance of her flat and it means she can pop into New Look or Primark on her lunch break. She is currently job hunting for something that pays a bit better, so that she can have a bit more spending money and also to clear her debts.
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Kyra
Kyra lives in a rented flat with her two young children. She relies on a top up of state benefits to supplement her admin job. Kyra loves to find designer brands at good prices, and will spend time researching fashion and cosmetics bargains. She loves a celeb recommendation on Instagram!
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Hannah
Hannah is a first time buyer, recently purchasing a small terrace house close to her work. She is a junior office worker so she has recently supplemented her low wage with a loan. Hannah is a keen footballer and has just purchased cable TV to ensure she doesn’t miss a game. Whilst she doesn’t use her smartphone as often as other people her age, she does use it for dating apps and reading the sun.
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Shane
Shane lives in a low-rise council estate with his partner and their school age children. He works at a nearby factory and enjoys going to the pub after work. Money is tight, so he shops at discount retailers, but affords himself the luxury of cable TV. He spends his free time betting – football pools and the lottery – and spends time online gambling and researching loans.
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Lisa
Lisa is a single parent living in a multicultural neighbourhood. She enjoys clothes shopping – H&M and Primark are the favourites – and will regularly read lifestyle articles. Lisa has a profile on a few online dating apps, looking for Mr Right! She is currently on job seekers allowance, but she has a good set of GCSE’s and is looking to provide more security for her child.
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Li
Li lives in a densely populated urban area and has no interaction with her ‘noisy neighbours’! Her life feels busy, she is a single parent and works two low paid jobs. Li loves community theatre, films and hearing all about the latest celebrity gossip. She is active on social media and will gladly post reviews and interact with online content.
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Caitlin
Caitlin has lived in the city her entire life. She’s in a small flat rented from the council with her young children. Caitlin feels like her neighbourhood has an issue with vandalism and crime but also is imbued with culture; shebeen parties and good food! She feels like she is just getting by, and her semi-skilled job doesn’t provide her with much spare income.
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Kelly
Kelly seems to spend all her disposable income on her three kids, whether it’s a games console or some pressies from Argos or Poundland, Kelly makes sure her kids feel treated. She is a single mum living in a semi-detached council house. She is on income support and housing benefit. Kelly loves spending time on social media, whether it’s a quiz on facebook or a cat meme on TikTok she’ll be the first to share with her friends.
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Harper
Harper is a young mum who adores her two kids. She is currently unemployed and is living off state benefits. As money is tight Harper can’t afford to socialise as much as she’d like to but when she does have some spare change she can be found dancing to some tunes or enjoying a game of bingo with her friends. Harper lives in a two bed council flat which is in need of repair.
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Gavin
Gavin holds down a steady routine job. Whilst it is low paid, he is able to afford his cigarettes and the occasional flutter! He rents a flat from his local social housing provider with loads of his mates in close proximity. He is often down the park playing football. Otherwise, Gavin is glued to his phone, regularly sharing photos and gaming.
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Leon
Leon lives in a high rise flat that he rents from a local social housing provider. He loves watching TV, and would never miss a game. He occasionally gambles, and going down to the bingo hall is definitely a weekly highlight. Other treats include the odd McDonald’s or Greggs, but as he is on benefits he needs to be careful with his spending so will only buy food from Iceland or Lidl.
Download Leon’s user persona poster
What to do next?
You may find a brand persona character above that perfectly reflects your audience, if so – you are good to go!
If you would like to edit your brand persona then we have made it easy for you to create your own poster designs. Firstly, reference Acorn’s user guide to select your closest match. Secondly, you may want to cross reference any data with YouGov profiles for additional data. Thirdly, don’t forget to add in any primary data you have gathered personally through interviews and questionnaires.
Remember, your brand persona doesn’t need to represent your entire customer set. Instead, it should highlight an ideal customer – you can use more than one persona!
And finally, we have made our illustrations available in case you need them.
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Interview your users
Speak to as many current and prospective customers as you can, and try to get a flavour of the types of people you are working alongside.
Read blog post -
Choose a brand persona poster
Select a brand persona poster from the above list to act as your starting point
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Develop the persona with additional data
If you choose to, you can reinforce the persona poster with additional secondary data
Learn more about using brand personas
The data source for these brand persona posters is Acorn from CACI. Acorn draws on a wide range of data sources from public and open data as well as commercial sources. These include; the Census, Land Registry, private rental data and lifestyle surveys as well as some of CACI’s own proprietary data such as population density and income models1.
