Identifying the target audience is an integral part of training needs analysis. It gives the opportunity to look into performance gaps but also gives you an idea of how training will be conducted to bridge the training gap.
Here is a tool that was borrowed from marketing to help you connect to the learner in order to create a meaningful learning experience.
Personas are fictional, but provides you and other training developers an idea of who the learner is going to be. It also provides a sense of the learning experience from the eyes of the trainee.
Creating a persona is done by gathering information and conducting audience interviews.
Collection of the information needs to be written down in your design document as it will help with the experience design.
Here are some of the main items to consider:
- What does the learner do in the workplace
- Demographic information (age, language, local/global)
- Attitude towards learning/performance
- How they learn (tools and learning environment)
- Training availability
It is recommended to:
- Add an image
- Create a couple scenarios and apply what you think what would the persona do
Here’s an example of personas created for training:
