How to create client profiles
The terms ‘clients’, ‘customers’, ‘consumers’, ‘participants’ and ‘service users’ are all used for the people you serve. The preferred term used by the NDIS is ‘participants. Without the participants, your organisation would be redundant.
Your client profiles should include basic social and demographic information as well as current care plans, and details of their wishes and aspirations will enable your organisation to tailor services accurately to your client base. This will allow your organisation to stay on top of their changing requirements and increase your client retention.
Build a picture of your ideal client.
Use an Empathy Map or Client Profile to gain deeper insight into your potential clients. Much like a user persona, an empathy map can represent a group of users, such as a client segment. Look to uncover more than just functional use of your service.
- What would the client be thinking & feeling? What are some of their worries and aspirations?
- What would their friends, colleagues, and family be likely to say while the client is using your service? What would the client hear in these scenarios?
- What would the client see while using your service?
- What might the client be saying and/or doing while using your service? How would that change in a public or private setting?
- What are some of the client’s pain points or fears when using your service?
- What gains might the client experience when using our product?
You achieve FIT when your value map meets your customer profile - click here for a diagram showing Value Map, Client Profile and FIT.
Gather your current client information.
Talking to your existing clients (Client Profile) can be a great source of information. Take a fresh look at how they use your services and what would they change to make it better. Look at client feedback for patterns of what they are looking to achieve and how well you are delivering against their needs.
Map their journey with your organisations or others what are the problems they are looking to solve. It can be useful to immerse yourself in your client’s environment not just consider the use of your service in isolation.
Aim to create profiles for all the different groups of clients. Include information on your client’s goals in their profile. Each client will have a different medium to longer term goals. By understanding these, you will ensure you have reviewed and assessed their needs for relevant services.
Collect valuable data for the future
A clear understanding of your clients will help you plan service delivery over time. This information will underpin all aspects of your organisation. It can also be used for marketing, communications, services, reporting and financial management.
Ensure that you collect, store and maintain data according to the Australian Privacy Principles.
Develop scenarios that solve your client's problems
Create stories that describe solutions for your client’s pains. Describe several specific situations that could cause a client to use the service you are designing. You can give each of your profiles life by creating scenarios that feature them in the role of a user. Start by placing the client profile in a specific context with a problem they want to solve.
Resources
A good step guide to creating profiles:
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/personas-why-and-how-you-should-use-them
Privacy fact sheet 17: Australian Privacy Principles: