109. Personas vs Jobs to Be Done: A UX Showdown with Jen Blatz

Is your UX design truly user-centered, or are personas leading you astray?

Discover a game-changing approach that could redefine your strategy.

Tune in as I chat with Jen Blatz, who challenges the conventional use of personas in design. With a rich UX research background, Jen critically analyzes how personas can sometimes misguide design efforts by fostering stereotypes that do not capture the complexity of user needs. She questions the real value personas bring to the table and urges us to look beyond surface-level user profiles.

Jen champions the Jobs to Be Done framework, which shifts the focus from demographic data to understanding the true objectives of users. This approach offers a more grounded understanding of user behavior, enabling designers to create solutions that genuinely address user challenges. Jen also introduces the Scenario Alignment Canvas, a tool she developed to help teams focus on specific user scenarios and enhance collaborative efforts.

Jen Blatz provides actionable insights and innovative strategies to help you move beyond traditional personas, ensuring your designs are driven by authentic user needs. This episode is a must-listen if you want to enhance your UX methodology and create more impactful designs.

Jen Blatz
Host of BlatzChatz ★ Co-founder of UX Research and Strategy

About Jen

Jen Blatz is a Principal UX Researcher at BECU (Boeing Employee Credit Union), one of the largest credit unions in the United States. Jen’s path to UX started in journalism and graphic design, to progress to UX design and finally landing in UX research and strategy. She has worked in a number of fields including finance, mortgage, cloud storage, security and pet health. Jen loves being active in the UX community, and is the co-founder of the UX Research and Strategy group, one of the largest UX groups in the world. Jen is a seasoned conference speaker who has spoken at several UX international conferences. Jen spends her free time interviewing UX pros and creating videos for her YouTube channel called BlatzChatz.

Connect with Jen on LinkedIn

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