Creating a Persona using an Empathy Map

Michael 

Michael is an aging white male, baby boomer. At 62, he is on the cusp of becoming a senior citizen. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, he has lived in various parts of the country and has traveled extensively internationally throughout his lifetime. He currently lives with his wife in New Jersey, closer to some of their family.

Michael has had a long, successful career in senior management with large, Fortune 500 corporations, but also has a strong background in entrepreneurial roles, has opened businesses, launched brands, and opened international offices. He is currently faced with the hard reality of the same economic concerns that many Americans are at the moment.    

1. What does he think and feel? What really counts? Major preoccupations? Worries & aspirations?

What’s important to him in life are his family and friends, those are the only real things of value to him, everything else is material. While he enjoys material things, he does not value them the same way.

Although he’s been through many successes in his career, the current general economic climate worries him. In particular, the job and housing markets, and the decline in equity in his house, because this limits the disposable income he has available. He is preoccupied with earning a living to pay the bills. While, at this stage in his life, retirement is on his mind, he is concerned with being financially stable enough to do so. For this reason, he is taking a risk to launch a new business. While all of his businesses up to this point in his life have been driven by profits, his current venture is driven by a lifelong interest in social values that resonates more with him. It is what drives him to continue working hard.

He is interested in what is happening with the economy as well as what’s happening with international politics. Having grown up in the 60s and 70s, he is vibrantly opinionated and active in political decisions, but is concerned that the younger generations do not have an understanding of the importance of keeping informed and having a voice in their own future.  

2. What does he see? Environment? Friends? What the market offers?

He sees a world that needs to be more concerned about social issues and sustainability. For him, that means he’s looking for ways to buy more earth friendly products. In the environment, he sees a world that is changing and needs to be addressed. He sees a world where people need to be more conscious of their environmental footprint.

What he sees in his friends is a reflection of his values; that is why they are his friends. At this stage, he sees his friends in transition; transitioning into being senior citizens. They are no longer talking about getting old, they are now old, and that is not a bad thing. With that, he enjoys watching his friends add a new stage to their lives. He enjoys seeing his friends watch their kids grow as he does with his own two children. He loves watching the generations continue as his children and friend’s children begin to have kids of their own.

He sees that the market is evolving at a much faster pace than ever. His age group is no longer the market emphasis. The baby boomers are no longer the biggest consumers. Where just ten years ago, the market targeted his generation, he now sees that the market is addressing youth much more with things like social media. The market is offering products at an accelerating pace for a younger audience, not his age group. While he tries to keep up with technology, he says that his generation is always playing catch-up. He thinks he has seen his generation moving beyond consumerism.

As far as what he sees in his surroundings, he does not spend his days in an office. He works for himself and when not working from home or traveling, typically spends a lot of time at his Starbucks “office” to get a change of scenery. He does not have a typical workday and this affords him a lot of flexibility.

3. What does he say and do? Attitude in public? Appearance? Behavior towards others?

He is an affable and fun loving person. He enjoys people and being social, but also enjoys quite time and privacy. The balance of both of those dynamics is important to him. He enjoys restaurants (he has his favorite local Italian and Sushi restaurants which he frequents regularly), movies (he sees just about every movie that comes out), and spending time with friends, as well as reading, photography, travel, biking, hiking, time outdoors, and any time where he can be close to nature.

He is a friendly and outgoing person who tries to be aware of his surroundings and sensitive to the needs of others, but admits he is not always successful. He cares about others, particularly other cultures, because he has spent a lot of time traveling. He is sensitive not to put labels on people. He has had to be able to do business all over the world, including in Asia, Europe, and South America, which is part of why he has become a good listener over the years.

He cares about his appearance, whether physical or through his behavior, although not in terms of how others view him, but instead because of how it makes him feel. He wears nice clothes because he likes nice clothes not because he’s trying to impress others. They make him feel good. He likes good quality clothes and will often have suits and shirts custom made. He is tall, 6’2”, so it is difficult to find his size in a store, but because he works in the industry, he has a sensibility about clothes. He is not driven by labels, he just likes quality. He would rather spend more on one really great item than on many cheap items.

4. What does he hear? What friends say? What bosses say? What influencers say?

He listens to everything around him because he thinks it is important to know everything going on in his world. He chooses from the information he listens to in order to formulate his opinions. He points out that it is important to differentiate between what he hears and what he listens to. While it is important to hear everything, you don’t have to listen to everything you hear. He listens to what resonates with him as a person, with his values. He is not easily influenced; he listens and forms his own opinions. He is a bit skeptical and does not take things at face value. He actively researches everything that he comes across, whether its politics, consumer products, etc. and is the first one to call BS when he hears it. He is therefore an informed consumer, he does due diligence on products before making any important purchase. He also thinks that most people do not listen enough, whether it be to sports, politics, commercials, which relates to what he thinks about the younger generations no paying enough attention.  

His friends and coworkers find him honest, trustworthy and reliable. They would say he is very loyal.

  

5. What are his pain points? Fears? Frustrations? Obstacles?

Michael’s general pain points are dishonesty and injustice whether it be in business, politics, or personal relationships. His fears goes back to financial insecurities, he does not fear death or anything like that. At this stage in his life, fear, to him, is more tangible, like not being able to provide for his family. Despite his many professional successes, he still finds not having a college degree to be an obstacle that he continues push past.  

6. What does he hope to gain? Wants/needs? Measures of success?

Not surprisingly, since he values his family and relationships above all else, his measures of success are having been a good husband and father who has been there for his family. That is the most important measure of success to him at this point in his life. At other stages in his life, there were other things to validate his success. He has had other financial and business successes, but those are secondary to his personal success now. Hopes to gain security, not necessarily wealth but security.

He has been successful in business, he’s owned a home, so a lot of the aspirations he once had, he has accomplished. His current wants/needs are for his family to be healthy and happy, those are the primary issues that dominate his life, everything else is ancillary.

Having lived through many ups and downs, economically, professionally and personally, he is realistically hopeful about the future and at this age, wants to focus his energies on what really matters to him.