134 psychographics

psychographic personas are a massive and underrated design unlock.

i'll demonstrate why, using michael saylor and ansem as examples for a trading product:

users should be at the core of every design decision.

but how do you do that, exactly?

by creating fictional characters based on real data to tell compelling stories about user needs.

psychographics are a necessary ingredient for rich and actionable storytelling.

unlike demographics (like age, gender, and location), psychographics (personality, values, and interests) dive deeper into motivations and tendencies.

let’s use a really simple framework to create our personas—the Big Five personality traits:

1. openness: curiosity, imagination, and willingness to try new things.

2. conscientiousness: being organized, dependable, and self-disciplined.

3. extraversion: sociability, assertiveness, and tendency to seek stimulation.

4. agreeableness: being cooperative, compassionate, and trusting.

5. neuroticism: tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, depression, and mood swings.

now let's plot ansem and saylor along this framework.

(idk much about their personalities, so i'll make a guess)

for the sake of argument let's just say saylor is more conscientious and ansem is more open and extraverted.
because saylor is less open, we can assume he likes things that are familiar and straightforward.

the ui should look and feel like other financial tools he's used to, avoiding any experimental interface designs.
ansem would hate that.

being very open and extraverted, he loves new experiences and actively seeks out stimulation.

it would be worth investing in dynamic visuals, animations, and interactive elements to keep him engaged.

with low conscientiousness and moderate neuroticism, ansem tends to be impulsive and seeks instant gratification—so it's worth making real-time price action the focal point.

he'll also respond well to gamified features, so there's reason to prioritize ideating ways to gamify P/L.

impulsive tendencies can also often translate to a willingness to move fast and emotionally, which means we can assume any over the top security features will become a frustrating burden for him.

i'd probably prioritize mobile since he's most likely not using a hardware wallet.

whereas saylor's personality is more conservative, he'll go out of his way to use a hardware wallet.

he also requires more detailed and structured data because of his high conscientiousness.

he'll prefer high info density with sections and tabs to stay organized.

give him a web ui. he'll never use mobile for important actions.

he moves deliberately, reads whitepapers, and researches thoroughly so he'll appreciate an easy way to navigate technical data.

because he's not neurotic or agreeable, you can expect him to be skeptical and prefer clear, unemotional messaging in the ui.

saylor's low extraversion means he might have a hard time taking social features seriously.

but a product with forums, chat, and social proof will be much more sticky for someone with ansem's extraversion.

this exercise hopefully shows how vastly different a product might be when you prioritize one over the other.

there is certainly no way to appeal to both, and that's an incredible design constraint.

granted, this is an oversimplified example. but it hopefully demonstrates how a small amount of personality context can go a very long way in the design process.

these insights can be applied to the design strategy (how it should work) and also have tangible implications on the ui (how it should look).

there is no one way to present a persona. as long as it's based on real observations and, most importantly, prioritized, it will help you tell a story.

in the early stages of the design process (before testing and prototyping), stories are the ultimate measure of success for a design.

it's a shared reference across everyone working on a product, a guiding force and lens to evaluate a design.

it's the basis for decision-making.
while psychographics remain a debated tool (they can create unnecessary bias, be too ambiguous compared to other user-centered methods) they're my secret weapon for early stage ideation.

i recommend giving it a try. if you want more tips on how to get started, shoot me a dm.