Tool Case Study: Developing Personas in the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board

The CivicMakers Team led the inaugural Workforce Transformation Corps cohort, in partnership with Make Fast Studio, Jobs for the Future, California Workforce Association, Turning Basin Labs, and the James Irvine Foundation. This year-long learning and engagement program placed fellows in workforce development boards throughout the state of California to integrate human-centered design and equity-centered approaches into their organizations and their work with communities.

Dorea was one of five Fellows in the Workforce Transformation Corps (WTC). She worked closely with the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board to deepen stakeholder insight into workforce participants and better align services with their needs.

Tool Application

How do workforce boards truly understand the people they serve? Developing personas to reflect participant realities.

During my time with the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board (SBCWDB), I worked to create detailed personas representing the participants served by the SBCWDB and its service providers. This process aimed to bridge the gap between stakeholders and participants by fostering empathy and clarity.

What are personas and how can they effectively assist workforce Development Boards and their stakeholders to better understand the participants they serve? Personas are fictional yet realistic representations of target users, derived from in-depth research and data analysis. They capture essential characteristics such as demographics, goals, motivations, challenges, and behaviors. By simplifying complex data into relatable profiles, personas enable teams to empathize with their audience, focus on their needs, and design user-centered solutions.

In the context of the Santa Barbara County Workforce Development Board (SBCWDB), personas were developed to represent the diverse participants served by the Board and its service providers. Through collaboration with SBCWDB staff, I collected participant profiles that contained essential data, including employment barriers, demographic information, goals, and challenges. These profiles served as the foundation for the personas, which were designed to make the data more relatable and actionable for stakeholders.

The personas highlighted diverse participant experiences, from young adults seeking their first jobs to mid-career individuals navigating career transitions. They became a storytelling tool, helping stakeholders design programs and policies that better aligned with participant needs.

Personas in the Design Process

Personas are typically created in the early stages of the human-centered design process, specifically during the Empathize and Define phases. These stages involve understanding the audience, identifying their needs, and framing these insights into actionable design goals.

To build the personas, I collaborated with SBCWDB staff to gather participant profiles, conduct interviews, and analyze demographic and behavioral data. Once crafted, the personas are useful in several ways:

1. Fostering Empathy: Stakeholders were introduced to personas during workshops, which helped them step into the shoes of participants. For instance, one persona represented a young adult navigating their first job search, while another highlighted the challenges of a mid-career individual transitioning industries. These stories make abstract data more tangible and humanize the individuals that the Board serves.
2. Improving Program Design: The personas highlight barriers such as language proficiency, digital literacy, or transportation access. Stakeholders can utilize these insights to adapt services and programs to address these challenges, ensuring participants have equitable access to resources.
3. Guiding Policy Development: By understanding participant goals and frustrations, the Board is able to prioritize policies that remove systemic obstacles. For example, a persona representing a single parent struggling to find affordable childcare may lead to discussions about providing supportive services alongside employment programs.
4. Streamlining Communication: Personas act as a shared language among staff, service providers, and stakeholders. They facilitate clear discussions about user needs and provide a common reference point when brainstorming solutions or evaluating program effectiveness.
5. Planning Future Services: The personas are a long-term asset for the Board, offering a framework to revisit and refine as participant demographics and needs evolve.

Example Persona: “Michele”

Michele, a 35-year-old single mother, was crafted as one of the personas. She represents individuals balancing caregiving responsibilities with workforce reentry. Her profile included:

• Goals: Securing stable employment with flexible hours.
• Challenges: Limited access to affordable childcare and gaps in her resume.
• Motivations: Providing a better future for her children.

Michele’s persona prompted stakeholders to consider program adjustments, such as offering evening workshops or connecting participants with childcare resources, ensuring that services better aligned with her needs.

Through these personas, the SBCWDB program operators began to discuss how to shift perspective, not just designing programs for participants, but designing programs with their specific realities in mind. This tool may prove invaluable in aligning stakeholder goals with participant success.

The Process

1. Data Gathering and Analysis: Collaborated with Board staff to collect and analyze participant profiles. This step involved identifying key data points such as demographic details, employment history, and personal goals.

2. Identifying Patterns: Used the profiles to uncover patterns and trends. For example, some participants faced significant barriers like language proficiency, while others were transitioning out of long-term unemployment. These insights informed the creation of distinct personas.

3. Persona Creation: Crafted personas that told a story about the participants, blending qualitative and quantitative insights. For instance, one persona might represent a 45-year-old returning to work after caregiving, while another captures the experience of a 20-year-old exploring career paths.

4. Stakeholder Workshops: Conducted workshops with stakeholders to introduce the personas, explain their significance, and brainstorm ways to integrate them into program design. The workshops also provided a space to refine the personas based on stakeholder feedback.

5. Implementation: The personas were incorporated into strategic discussions, informing how services were delivered and helping stakeholders prioritize participant needs. This step included creating materials, such as posters and handouts, to keep the personas accessible and front of mind for staff and partners.

Recommendations

• Collaborate Early and Often: Work with both staff and stakeholders from the start to ensure the personas reflect the realities of the participants and resonate with the audience.
• Start Small: Focus on a manageable number of personas to avoid overwhelming stakeholders. A few well-crafted examples can have a significant impact.
• Keep Personas Dynamic: Treat personas as living documents that can evolve as new data and insights emerge.

Author

Dorea Crowell

Self-Employed, Small Business Owner

Dorea Crowell is a Workforce Transformation Corps Fellow with extensive experience in human-centered design, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and workforce development. As a small business owner for over five years, she brings firsthand insight into the challenges faced by local businesses, which aligns with her work to develop participant personas and journey maps that enhance service delivery.

With over 15 years of experience in program management, training, and policy development, Dorea has a passion for creating equitable, innovative solutions that address workforce and community needs. During her fellowship, she collaborated with stakeholders to craft tools like DEIA toolkits and personas, fostering empathy and strategic alignment among workforce development teams.