B2B SaaS User Persona Framework · CHAPTER 4 OF 5
Work context, characteristics, and RACI
Identify Who the User Works With
Work dynamics show who the user works with inside the workflow.
Because in SaaS, one user rarely completes the full process alone.
Identify Who the User Works With
Work dynamics show who the user works with inside the workflow.
Because in SaaS, one user rarely completes the full process alone.
Work dynamics help designers improve
Task ownership
Handoffs
Notifications
Permissions
Status visibility
Approvals
Work dynamics help designers improve
Define Characteristics From Work Context
SaaS persona characteristics should explain how the user works, not who they are personally.
These insights should come from the user’s role, responsibility, qualification, and work dynamics.
Define Characteristics From Work Context
SaaS persona characteristics should explain how the user works, not who they are personally.
These insights should come from the user’s role, responsibility, qualification, and work dynamics.
Characteristics Guide Design Decisions
User characteristics help designers understand what the product should support.
They show where the user needs clarity, speed, validation, control, or visibility.
This turns persona research into real UX decisions, not just user information.
Characteristics Guide Design Decisions
User characteristics help designers understand what the product should support.
They show where the user needs clarity, speed, validation, control, or visibility.
This turns persona research into real UX decisions, not just user information.
Example
RA Lead Key Characteristics
Compliance-focused and accuracy-driven
Strong in regulatory submissions
Highly detail-oriented
Review-oriented
Decision-driven
Accountable for dossier quality
Comfortable with strict timelines
Example
Convert Characteristics Into Design Needs
Compliance-focused
need audit trails, version history, approval status, and mandatory validations.
Review-oriented
need review mode, comments, change tracking, and approval states.
Deadline-driven
need due dates, pending actions, overdue states, and escalation points.
Risk-aware
need warnings, missing alerts, incomplete section indicators, and submission risk visibility.
Convert Characteristics Into Design Needs
Map Responsibility Across the Workflow
Map Responsibility Across the Workflow
Unclear Responsibility Breaks SaaS Workflows
Without RACI, responsibility stays unclear.
Users may not know who should act, who should approve, who should wait, and who should be updated.
This can break the workflow
RACI helps designers create the right permissions, actions, states before designing the flow.
Unclear Responsibility Breaks SaaS Workflows
Without RACI, responsibility stays unclear.
Users may not know who should act, who should approve, who should wait, and who should be updated.
This can break the workflow
RACI helps designers create the right permissions, actions, states before designing the flow.
RACI helps
decide
RACI helps decide
Who can create
Who can review
Who can edit
Who can approve
Who can only view
Whome to be notified