Actions | Outcomes | Features

Arm Wave

In the Actions, Outcomes, Features area we capture the high-level activities a persona undertakes, the business outcomes they help achieve, or the features or capabilities they need to support those actions.

Our aim is to understand how the persona uses data, information, or tools to drive organisational value, and what success looks like from their perspective.

We describe the type of action the persona takes, and the outcome that action delivers. These are usually recurring or habitual patterns of use, not one-off events. They might include decisions being made, processes being improved, or value being unlocked through reuse.

This gives us insight into:

• How they use data, information, or tools;

• Why they use them, what business value is being delivered;

• Who benefits, the persona themselves or someone else.

We’re not focused on detailed actions or outcomes here, those are captured in the Information Product Canvas.

Instead, we’re defining the broad activities and outcomes that are common across a group of people who consume or work with data in similar ways.

People often struggle to describe the outcome they achieve using data. To help, we ask a simpler question:

“What do you typically do as a result of accessing data or information?”

This shifts the focus from abstract goals to everyday actions. Once we understand the action, we can usually infer the outcome.

We’ve found that:

• Information is often used to drive a decision or outcome;

• Tools are often used to complete a task or action.

It’s okay to mix both.

We’re not looking for perfect categorisation, we’re looking for useful patterns that help us group people into personas with shared behaviours or expectations.