투고일_2018.02.10 심사기간_2018.03.01.-14 게재확정일_2018.03.29
A Study on the developing data-based segmenting CTA(Call to Action) persona model for web service
웹서비스를 위한 데이터기반 CTA 퍼소나 모델 개발에 관한 연구
Lee, Ji Hyun_Seoul Women's University / Kiyoshi, Tomimatsu_Kyushu University
이지현, 서울여자대학교 미래산업융합대학 산업디자인학과교수 / 키요시 토미마츠, 규슈대학 디자인대학차례 1. Introduction
1.1. Research backgrounds and objectives 1.2. Research methods and areas
2. Persona and segmenting CTA persona based on web usage data 2.1. Persona in the user experience design field
2.2. Data-driven design in user experience design 2.3. Understanding segmenting CTA for web service
3. Case study for developing segmenting CTA persona 3.1. Data analytics tool and target CTA of case study 3.2. A Framework for segmenting CTA persona
3.3. Developing segmenting CTA persona for case study
4. Conclusion
Reference
A Study on the developing data-based segmenting CTA(Call to Action) persona model for web service
웹서비스를 위한 데이터기반 CTA 퍼소나 모델 개발에 관한 연구
Lee, Ji Hyun_Seoul Women's University / Kiyoshi, Tomimatsu_Kyushu University
이지현, 서울여자대학교 미래산업융합대학 산업디자인학과교수 / 키요시 토미마츠, 규슈대학 디자인대학ABSTRACT Persona is a main tool of goal-orient methodology that designs experience centered on goals in user experience design field which is a modeling technique that is applied in many fields including software. Traditionally, to build a persona, field research data derived from a qualitative user research method is essential. Recently, however, attempts for quick persona modeling have been made and a need for research on quantitative data-based persona is growing. In this study, a method of extracting the quantitative data of the web site will be studied, effective data system for persona modeling will be defined, and the user type that selects the core link and the other user type that does not select the core link will be modeled separately. Method of analyzing the data of the user types that selects the core link that is the purpose of the web service has been widely used in the name of CTA (Call-to-action) in marketing such as banner advertisement. However, The system was not utilized well. For CTA-based persona modeling, quantitative data types which are the basis of modeling were defined and the structure of persona is defined. Then, specific case studies were conducted to select a core link, and the users who clicked on the core link and the users who did not click were distinguished and modeled into personas. The results of the modeled persona were verified by conducting an expert evaluation through business officials from the companies of the case studies. Through this study, systematic ways to quickly define CTA Persona based on quantitative data and apply it to decision making in UX design field have been proposed.
Keyword Persona
User Experience Design Data-driven Design CTA(Call to action)
요약 퍼소나는 사용자경험디자인분야에서 목표를 중심으로 경험을 디자인하는 목표지향방법론의 중심도구로써 소
프트웨어를 비롯한 다양한 분야에 활용되고 있는 모델링 기법이다. 전통적으로 퍼소나 구축을 위해서는 정성적 인 사용자 리서치 방법을 통해 도출한 필드리서치 데이터가 필수적이다. 하지만, 최근 빠른 퍼소나 모델링과 적 용을 위한 시도가 생기고 있으며, 정량 데이터를 기반으로 데이터기반퍼소나에 연구의 필요성이 커지고 있다.
이에 본 연구에서는 웹사이트의 정량 데이터를 추출하는 방법을 연구하여 퍼소나 모델링에 효과적인 데이터 체 계를 정의하고 핵심 링크를 선택한 사용자 유형과 핵심 링크를 사용하지 않은 사용자 유형을 구분하여 모델링 하고자 한다. 웹서비스의 목적이 되는 핵심적인 링크를 선택한 사용자 유형의 데이터를 분석하는 방법은 배너 광고 등 마케팅에서는 CTA(Call-to-action)이라는 명칭으로 널리 사용되어 왔으나 사용자 경험디자인 분야 및 퍼소나 모델링을 위한 체계로는 활용이 미비하였다. CTA 기반 퍼소나 모델링을 위해 우선 모델링의 기초가 되는 정량적 데이터 유형을 정의하였고 퍼소나의 구조를 정의하였다. 그런 다음, 특정 사례 연구를 선정하여 핵 심이 되는 링크를 선정하고 핵심 링크를 클릭한 사용자와 그렇지 않은 사용자 유형을 구분하여 각각 퍼소나 모 델링을 구현하였다. 구현한 퍼소나 모델링 결과는 사례 연구 대상 기업의 관리자를 대상으로 전문가 평가를 실 시하여 유효성을 검증하였다. 본 연구를 통해 정량적 데이터를 기반으로 CTA 퍼소나를 빠르게 정의하고 UX 디 자인 분야의 의사결정에 활용할 수 있는 체계적인 방안을 제시하였다.
중심어 퍼소나
사용자 경험 디자인 데이터기반 디자인 CTA(Call to action)
This paper was supported by the scholarship of Seoul Women's University in 2018.
1. Introduction
1.1. Research backgrounds and objective
The user experience design field is gradually maturing with the spread of world wide web service, the emergence of smart phones, and the diffusion of IoT which combines products and services. In the early days of user experience design, traditional engineering methodologies in software and human-computer interaction were merely adopted, however, since 2000, many researches on methodologies and processes suitable for user experience design have been appeared. Among them, Alan Cooper researched user-centered design methodology of software and presented goal-directed design and persona as important tools. Ever since, persona kept on developing and has been used as one of the representative methodologies in user experience design field centering on information and communication fields such as software, internet, and smart devices. However, despite the usefulness of persona, it has been criticized that the vast amount of quantitative research data is difficult to achieve in terms of time and cost, and there is a high possibility that subjective opinions of researchers gets involved.
Thus, in this study, we conducted persona modeling that can help quick modeling and specific decision making, and can be grounded on objective basis. In particular, we applied the recent data-oriented design methodology to persona and focused on the research of data-based CTA persona and modeling that model behavior patterns and tendency of users who clicked on the core link. Shopping carts, subscriptions, newsletter sign-ups, and price check-ups on web sites are examples of links that measures key business performances, so it is very important to analyze which types of users click on these links and study ways to improve click-through rates.
Traditionally, many researches have been studying this in marketing field, however, there were only few researches that modeled persona based on CTA and utilized it as a basis for design decision making in user experience design field. In this study, the data collecting tool was optimized and the modeling system was established for CTA-based persona modeling, detailed persona modeling was conducted through case studies, and results of persona modeling were evaluated through expert evaluation.
1.2. Research methods and areas
For this study, firstly, a research of the literature for goal-oriented methodology and persona in user experience design field was proceeded. The results of the researchers' studies on the definition and application of persona were organized. The types of persona and advantages and limitations of traditional persona have been studies. In addition, documents on the recently emerging data-base design has been studied. Data-driven design methodology used in decision making of user experience design have been studied and a way to combine persona and data-based design methodology is suggested.
For modeling the data-based CTA persona, data analysis tool was optimized. As a data
analysis tool, 'Beusable' (www.beusable.net) which the author is consulting on
functional/planning department was selected for adding functions and optimization
for persona modeling. Beusable is an online software that can access and analyze user
visit data of a specific web site through internet browser. Beusable's main functions
were improved and optimized and types of quantitative data that can be used for CTA persona modeling were defined.
Based on the acquired CTA persona modeling data system, specific web sites were selected for CTA persons modeling case studies. Beusable web site and its visiting customers were selected as objects of the case study and the core link was selected as pricing. The reason for this selection is that Beusable is a B2B web-based software and pricing is the key customer inflow channel for solution selling. Personas of visitors who have clicked on the price link and ones who have not were modeled and the two behaviors were compared and analyzed. The results of comparison and analysis of the person modeling were verified its usefulness by expert evaluation by Beusable's directors and management.
2. Persona and segmenting CTA persona based on web usage data
2.1. Persona in the user experience design field
Persona was first introduced as a user model of the goal-oriented design process in Alan Cooper's book 'The Inmates are running asylum.'
1)Alan Cooper, a software developer, has been repeatedly researching on users, and interviewing a small number of users less than 10 people. He constantly associated user types, thought as if himself is the user and in doing so, created the concept of persona. Persona is the most central fictional user character for a narrative scenario-based design process.
2)Persona was developed further by various researchers and became a main tool in user experience design field. Other experts also accept persona and define and use persona from their perspectives.
Representatively, Nielsen Norman group, one of the most prominent companies in user experience design, defines persona emphasizing common goals as 'a fictional character representing a particular user group with a common goal.'
3)On the other hand, Lidwell et al. A researcher in the user experience design field, emphasizes on user types with similar usage patterns when defining persona. According to Lidwell et al., persona is a fictional character that uses a particular site, brand, or product in a similar pattern.
4)Like this, persona is defined similarly but differently according to the characteristics of researcher and company. To sum up, persona is a fictional user character with a common goals and similar usage pattern and a central tool for goal and scenario-based design. Today, persona is a universal user experience design methodology broadly used by online service-oriented companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, SAP, and NYT as well as offline service companies such as FedEx and Walmart.
2.2. Data-driven design in user experience design
With the spread of IoT, accelerated integration of products and services, and advances in sensors, network, and analytical tools, most of the user experiences are now measurable. In addition, under this technology base, most companies have
1) Cooper, Alan, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity, Sams - Pearson Education, 1999, p.123
2) Cooper, Alan, Reimann, Robert and Cronin, David, About Face 4: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Wiley, 2014, p.26 3) Harley, Aurora, Segment Analytics Data Using Personas, https:// www.nngroup. com/articles /analytics-persona
-segment/
4) Lidwell, William, Holden, Kritina, Butler, Jill, Universal Principles of Design, Rockport Publishers, 2010, p.182
accumulated big data related to customers and the analysis and application of big data has become a core element to improve the standard of user experience design to support success of companies. So, in recent years, it has become possible to build a significant amount of ground data and decision support system for many areas that traditionally had to be relied on the intuition of professionals of user experience research. Tailoring your products to your user's preferences, goals, and behaviors make them far more engaging. The approach includes surveys, user testing, A/B testing, site analytics, and consumer research. Ideally, these should all come into play throughout the data-driven design process.
5)For example, Google is a company that traditionally places importance on data when making design decisions, and uses the user experience data that they value, organized in HEART framework in the following
<Table 1>.
6)HEART Description
H - Happiness qualitative user experience measurements, such as satisfaction and ease-of-use E - Engagement frequency, intensity, or depth of interaction over a given timeframe
A - Adoption how many new users a product, or an updated feature, gets in a defined time period R - Retention how many users stick around and how many start to churn
T - Task success what Google defines as "traditional behavioral metrics of user experience", like time to task-completion, error rate etc.
<Table 1> Google's HEART Framework
In addition, Google focuses on a collaborative culture where data is importance, but also gets reviewed carefully and discussed to meet the project's goals. Thus, Google utilizes data in line with project goals through a goal-based data tracking system called 'goals-signals-metrics.' Google's goals-signals-metrics are shown in Table 2.
7)goals-signals-metrics Description
Goals
identifying the UX goals of a product or feature can be complicated. Brainstorming around HEART can unite the team towards one common goal, and weed out the project goals from the product goals.
Signals
kind of like UX KPIs, 'signals' are the user behavior signposts might help a team track progress towards goals? Actions that indicate a goal has been met, or feelings that correlate to success or failure, should be mapped out here.
Metrics how will signals manifest as metrics? This is where baggy data gets turned into statistics, which can then be compared against industry or product standards.
<Table 2> Google's goals-signals-metrics
Besides Google, many online and offline based companies are making design decisions using the data. B8ta, an offline shop for IT equipment for early-adaptors, which has recently become popular, is a representative example to practice design testing and improvement of customer shopping experience using data. B8Ta, which has branches in major cities in US, displays products from various IT device companies, analyzes interest and purchase intentions of customers into data, and offers customer interest data to IT device manufacturers. Typical data provided are capture rates, dwell times, and purchase data.
8)5) https://www.invisionapp.com/blog/data-driven-design/
6) https://blog.prototypr.io/googles-ux-heart-framework-how-to-collect-user-centered-metrics-with-prototypes- f91c9894e60a
7) lbid.
2.3. Understanding segmenting CTA for web service
In web service, CTA refers to the most crucial core link to achieve the goal of web service, and mostly they are the most important links such as purchase requisitions, registration, price checks, and inquiry buttons. According to Thurow et al, for the web site to be successful, users must perform certain actions on it. Call to action should stand out on the page as well.
9)In addition, Thurow et al. Have stated that each page has multiple important 'call-to-action' and it is important to properly identify them, and to encourage users to use the 'call-to-action' appropriately. Typical examples of 'call-to-action' are shown in <Table 3>.
10)Thus, there are a number of 'call-to-action' in each page of web service, which are essential elements for the success of web services, and when designing the web, it is important to precisely consider to guide the users to execute 'call-to-action'.
Page Name Call to Action 1 Call to Action 2 Call to Action 3
Product A Add to cart Watch product video Click links to related items
Product B Add to cart View larger image Click links to related items
Product C Fill out contact form Email customer service Call toll-free number
<Table 3> Identifying and prioritizing calls to action on web pages
Web services make various attempts to increase the click-through rate of CTA links, such as how to improve the readability and attractiveness of the contents, how to improve the user's benefit and design them to be outstanding, and other various techniques on graphics, animations, and sound effects. Thurow et al. Proposed 9 methods such as Dimmed text, Italics, Bold, Larger font/typeface(typically in page headings), Border, Color(warm colors advance and cool colors recede; eyes naturally move to heavy color saturation and a large number of colors, and so on), Graphic Images(Curves versus straight lines; photos of faces of people; effects that indicate a dimension change such as beveling, embossing, shadows, and so on), sound, and animation/movement as typical CTA click rate improvement techniques. Priorities of multiple CTA elements should be considered when designing just one web service screen. The first-ranked CTA should be prominently designed to attract the user's attention than the second-ranked CTA, and the second-ranked CTA should be more prominently designed than the third-ranked CTA. This allows Web services to achieve their intended goals, and when performing UX designs, it is very important to take full account of the goal of these Web services.
3. Case study for developing segmenting CTA persona
3.1. Data analytics tool and target CTA of case study
For this study, Beusable (www.beusable.net), a data analysis tool for web services, were used. Beusable is a web service data analysis tool for UX design and is being developed by a startup company called 4Grit. From the early stages of Beusable, the author, myself has been continuously consulting on persona related function/planning consultation to help UX designers use the Beusable's solution
8) https://b8ta.com/
9) Thurow, Shari, Musica, Nick, When search meets web usability, New riders, 2009, p.72 10) Thurow, Musica, lbid, p.73
effectively. Beusable is an online software for analyzing user behavior of web services and has a strength in detailed analysis and visualization of user experience. The five main functions of Beusable are reporting heatmaps, analytics, comparing referrers, segmenting CTA, A / B testing, and funnels as shown in <Figure 1>.
11)12)Beusable provides specialized functions to UX designer that allows the designers to easily improve UI by offering visualized data information in forms of heatmap where UI elements can be intuitively checked and other UI elements can be intuitively compared to and analyzed with usage data. The CTA elements of the Beusable solution on the Beusable Home page can be seen as pricing, try Beusable, and contact. Because Beusable is a commercial software for sales purpose, its role is to allow users to conveniently access various functions of the Beusable homepage and sub-pages and finally select the above 3 links to lead them to the purchasing process.
<Figure 1> Analysis function screen of Beusable Service
In this study, pricing was selected as the CTA element of the case study among the 3 links of pricing, try beusable, and contact, not because of a simple interest or inquiry, but to analyze users' interest and usage pattern who are in the specific purchase review stage. To define the target customers, a pre-interview was conducted with the CEO of Beusable and aimed to understand the customers who meet the business goals. As a result of the interview, Beusable's business sims to provide intuitive data and professional analysis about the status of the company's web service and UX issues to the managers who work in a company with a certain size or higher that purchase Beusable solution with the company's budget rather than the general users who wants to lightly experience for free. In addition, the major clients as of January 2018 are Samsung Electronics, Cheil Communications, Shinhan Card, Naver, etc. User research analysts in the UX department that manages these companies' Web services, or user
11) lbid.
12) https://www.beusable.net
data analysts, are the main target audience for Beusable.
3.2. A framework for segmenting CTA persona
In this study, skeleton elements suitable for persona modeling were defined to model CTA persona that clicked on Beusable's pricing link and CTA persona that did not.
Persona modeling elements are also called framework and foundation documents and various persona modeling elements have been suggested by researchers. First, persona modeling elements suggested by existing researchers were examined. Prutti and Grudin presented the thirteen elements in <Table 4> as foundation documents for persona modeling through the Microsoft Research Web site.
13)These 13 elements are composed of more elements as shown in <Table 4> and can be flexibly modeled according to the characteristics and purpose of persona. On the other hand, Prutti and Adlin presented several more persona foundation documents through their books.
According to them, there are four basic elements, 14 personal background descriptions, 18 occupational/task information elements, 6 technical and accessibility uses, and 7 other elements.
14)George Olson, on the other hand, suggested the persona Creation and Usage Toolkit by aggregating the vast elements used in persona modeling.
15)As George created the toolkit that provides tools for a variety of situations, suggests to pick and choose what's appropriate for yours. In other words, persona emphasizes that the persona modeling can be modeled as a combination of different elements depending on the purpose of the producer.
Factors Description
Overview (Name, Photo, Basic Information)
Patrick Blakeman (Small Business Owner) Get to know Patrick, his business and family.
A Day in the Life Follow Patrick through a typical day
Work Activities Look at Patrick's job description and role at work
Household and Leisure Activities Get information about what Patrick does when he's not at work Goals, Fears, and Aspirations Understand the concerns Patrick has about his life, career, and business Computer Skills, Knowledge,
and Abilities Learn about Patrick's computer experience
Market Size and Influence Understand the impact people like Patrick have on our business Demographic Attributes Read key demographic information about Patrick and his family Technology Attributes Get a sense of what Patrick does with technology
Review Patrick's perspective on technology, past and future Communicating Learn how Patrick keeps in touch with people
International Considerations Find out what Patrick is like outside the U.S.
Quotes Hear what Patrick has to say
References See source materials for this document
<Table 4> Persona Foundation Document
13) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/personas-practice-and-theory.pdf 14) Pruitt, John, Adlin, Tamara, The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design, Morgan
Kaufmann, 2006, p.235
15) Olsen, George, Persona Creation and Usage Toolkit, http://www.interactionbydesign.com, 2004
<Figure 2> Basic Types of Proto-Persona
Traditional personas are created on the basis of a rigorous and qualitative study of individual experiences. Traditional persona, where observations and 1:1 interviews are based and user's goals, needs, motivations, difficulties and other background factors are observed, enable deeper and more vivid representation. However, traditional persona requires individual interviews for a large number of users which is costly and time consuming. On the other hand, in recent years, the form of a Proto-persona is also widely used to maintain the advantages of persona which can be the standard of decision-making and to minimize the cost and time required for research.
Proto-persona is the preferred method for start-ups or project teams that need to make quick decisions. Based on the various secondary user data collected by the project team and understanding of the users that the team has accumulated over time, it is typical to define demographic information such as name, age, and region, user's main actions and beliefs, key features, goals and needs in a simple manner as shown in <Figure 2>.
16)The Proto-persona has many limitations because it lacks data and accuracy compared to the traditional persona but it is clear that the Proto-persona can play an important role in decision-making in UX design and better than not making one at all. Recently, in order to compensated for the shortcomings of these Proto-personas, companies have gathered quantitative data on customer behavior, started research on persona data based on the quantitative data, and supplemented Proto-persona. In this study, for the development of the Proto-persona as a data-based persona, Beusable solution's data were used. Specifically, the quantitative data elements that can complement the Proto-persona through the Beusable solution are defined as the five elements in Table 4. The CTA user's funnel represents the user's movement path, and it is important data that can define user's inflow channel and the percentage of the total user who has clicked on pricing. PV and UV data are the most basic measures to measure the degree of activation of web services, and New and Re-visit rates are key indicators of service success and the degree of lock-in. Average residence time is an indicator of the characteristics of a specific web service and its behavior. The applicable device type is an indicator of the characteristics of a device used by a user visiting the web service.
16) https://uxmag.com/articles/using-proto-personas-for-executive-alignment
Quantitative Elements Description
CTA user's funnel User Flow, measure marketing effectiveness and predict user characteristics
PV(Page View) and UV(Unique Visitor):
PV: a request to load a single HTML file (web page) of an Internet site
UV: a person who visits a Web site more than once within a specified period of time
New / Re-visit rate how many CTA users visit and re-visit web site within specific period Average residence time Length of time for CTA users to reach / search the element
Applicable device type Types of Devices which users are using: PC / Mobile / Tablet
<Table 5> Beusable Solution's Quantitative Data for CTA based Persona Modeling
In addition, in order to clearly illustrate the usage flow of CTA persona, Customer Journey Map was adopted which is a touchpoint diagramming technique base on time order among existing user experience design tools. According to NNgroup, A customer journey map is a visualization of the process that a person goes through in order to accomplish a goal. It's used for understanding and addressing customer needs and pain points.
17)Customer Journey Map is a tool that records touchpoint changes, customer feelings, opportunities, and internal ownership factors of customers' journeys over time. It is mainly used in service design field, but in this study, it was modified and applied to represent the inflow route according to the flow in time, main page access, and the navigation to the various links in the main page.
3.3. Developing segmenting CTA persona for case study
Based on the persona elements defined in the previous chapter, a persona development based on the pricing link of the Beuable web service was proceeded.
To accomplish this, key elements among the traditional persona that can be defined without qualitative research, and elements that were defined in forms of infographics and customer journey map by quantitative data that can be obtained through Beusable were combined. Keeping the framework of Referrer Persona of the preliminary research conducted by the author 'A study on the developing data-based referrer persona for web service',
18)in order to maximize the characteristics of the quantitative data elements, infographics are strengthened and the customer journey map is expressed in diagrams to intuitively get a grasp on user's interest and path.
In Figure 3, only 6% of the entire users are able to effectively review the characteristics of the CTA persona who clicked on the pricing. At the top of the page, basic background information and professional content of persona are stated so that the basic types of persona who are interested in purchasing solutions can be quickly identified. Behaviors and characteristics are organized to better understand occupation, problems, and usual behavior patterns of the UX manager who is the buyer of Beusable Solution. The new-returning rate and average duration time which are the most prominent features for the CTA persona, are emphasized in diagrams and Referrer Device, the next important feature, was written in texts. In addition, Journey or Funnels is represented in a form of a Journey Map, including ratio of final contact, making data easy to view.
17) https://www.nngroup.com/articles/customer-journey-mapping/
18) Lee, Ji Hyun, Tomimatsu, Kiyoshi, A Study on the developing data-based referrer persona for web service, Korean Digital Design Studies, Vol.17 No.2, 2017
<Figure 3> Beusable's CTA Persona based on Pricing
