Who's Your Bubba?

A friend recommended a terrific book, called Designing the Obvious, by Robert Hoekman Jr. This book is all about designing web applications for ease of use.

One of the concepts Hoekman espouses, is to create a persona for each type of user - a brief description of a "typical" user of the application. You give your persona a name, a career and a business challenge he (or she) is struggling with (that you're trying to solve). You might even download a random photo from the web and give your persona a "face".

The exercise is indended to help you get inside the head of your customer. To change your perspective. To see things from your customer's point of view.

It reminded me of a road trip that our Marketing department took, several years ago, to a well known Direct Marketing company that specializes in outdoor recreation (hunting, fishing, camping and the like).

They told us the story of "Bubba".

"Bubba" was the name of their typical customer. They could describe what Bubba looked like, what Bubba liked to eat and what clothes he typically wore. They knew what truck (not car) he drove. They knew how much money he made and what he liked to do on his time off. No matter who we talked to, Bubba's description remained remarkably consistent.

And everything they did required Bubba's approval. If they wanted to add a new line of fishing lures, they needed Bubba's permission. If they wanted to expand their line of fishing boats, Bubba's truck needed to be able to tow them. Before deciding to expand their line of firearms, Bubba had to be able to afford them.

When their Marketing department held meetings, they typically reserved a chair for Bubba.

The concept might sound a little corny, but it worked. They never lost sight of the customer. And they were very successful with this technique.

How do you sustain customer focus? Does your company have a Bubba?