It is always best to do 1-on-1 qualitative interviews and usability tests with your actual customers or with people who represent your customer persona(s) or that are your target persona(s). Find the common themes of behavior, mental model, needs and challenges. Then make a target persona out of the research. Your qualitative research and usability tests should define what the "Happy Path" is for each flow in your software application for your customers and your target customer(s) or persona(s).
Lean Hypothesis Writing
- We believe that...
- We will do/make...
- We will know if the hypothesis is valid if...
- Qualitative Evidence
- Quantitative Evidence
Example:
We believe that Tom (Tom is one of your personas) prefers to use his Social Security Number to authenticate his identity in order to register for his online banking app.
We will make a registration process prototype where Tom has several options to verify his identity in order to register for his banking app. One of those options should be SSN. We will do usability tests using our prototype with 5 participants who represent our target persona.
We will know if it is valid if Tom chooses to use his SSN instead of the other options presented to him to register for his banking app and communicates that he likes or prefers using his SSN.