Hillel: User Personas
Hillel needs to reach 3 user personas: Students, Parents, and Donors. While there is some overlap, the three personas identify different user goals and different user journeys that must be addressed. In addition, all 3 personas have a “Prospective” flavor and a “Current” flavor, with the former transforming into the latter.
Working with the Hillel staff, the following personas are evident (in brief):
Persona 1: Student (PRIMARY)
Ages: 18-22
Use of Social Media: frequent
Device Use: leans more toward mobile over desktop
Emotions
Current: Curiosity, excitement
Prospective: Curiosity, pressure, resignation (parents pushing involvement)
Persona 2: Parent of Student
Ages: 40-60 (typically)
Use of Social Media: probable
Device Use: both desktop and mobile
Emotions: Determination (to get their student involved), relief, curiosity
Persona 3: Donor
Ages: 20-80
Use of Social Media: more probable at younger range
Device Use: desktop and mobile
Emotions: Generosity, skepticism, curiosity
To build Persona 1, I interviewed several current Hillel students. I wanted to find out why they joined Hillel, what they expected Hillel to offer them, how they wanted Hillel to communicate, and whether certain parts of the existing site were useful to them.
Some students were pushed into Hillel by their parents. Others were encouraged by roommates or friends. Some already knew about Hillel and wanted to take advantage of certain things like travel opportunities.
All students wanted to be able to find events to participate in. 66% of students had a high interest in professional opportunities. This was interesting since those opportunities were not given much prominence in the original site.
Almost all students were otherwise ambivalent about other data that was presented on the previous website as “Community”, like where to find synagogues, kosher food, and other Jewish organizations.
Students were very enthusiastic to see photos from recent events. Some called this out without prompting. The original site had, in the words of one senior who had been in Hillel a while, “Old pictures with people I’ve never met.”
Finally, students typically ignored the old website and used Facebook because Hillel did a lot of posts there. They would have preferred Instagram and went there second. Hillel did not post to Instagram as frequently. Students were not opposed to using the website if it offered them interesting content.
