Personas: Deciding Life Stage

Upon entering the second half of their reproductive journey, sperm producers are faced with having to make a concrete decision with regard to their family planning goals. Everyone’s reproductive health needs change over time, however, the evolving needs of sperm producers have not been contextualized to the same degree as egg producers. MCI has begun using personas in their ideation activities, in order to understand how men’s reproductive interests, change with age. Personas are fictional representations of potential male contraceptive users, beneficiaries, and intermediaries. Personas are creative tools that are incorporated into user-centered design exercises and allow organizations to identify user preferences and guide new product designs.

MCI has divided a man’s reproductive journey into 4 life stages. The third life stage is the “Deciding” stage in which a man finds himself at the juncture in life where he is considering life events like getting married and having children, or not. During this time a man has gained enough life experience to decide how he plans to carry out his future family planning goals. The next generation of male contraceptive users that find themselves in the “Deciding” stage will be in the process of choosing to commit to having children or investing in their personal and professional lives. Consider the lived experiences of an adult male who is in a relationship and progressing through his career. He is talking with his partner about having children and they have yet to decide whether or not they are ready to become parents. Similarly, the lived experiences of a single adult male who is motivated to prevent pregnancy but is hesitant to undergo a vasectomy is an ideal candidate for a novel male contraceptive product. “Settling Down Syed”, “Uncertain Alan”, and “Me-first Manny” are examples of adult males who would directly benefit from having access to the next generation of contraceptives for men. The inclusion of new male methods will provide men like these the tools they need to prevent a pregnancy indefinitely, or until they decide that they want to have children.

Beneficiaries in the "Deciding stage are individuals who would benefit from their partners having access to future male contraceptive devices. There are countless women that have to face the burden of being the primary contracepting body in a relationship. These same women that endure the prolonged struggle associated with using contraceptives have to simultaneously juggle a career and manage personal family situations in their day-to-day lives. “Can’t Use Cathy”, “Career-focused Carolyn”, and “Juggling Jennifer” are examples of personas that would benefit from having their partners use novel male contraceptive products.

Intermediary personas in the “Deciding” stage will not directly use or benefit from the rollout of the next generation of male contraceptives, but still, have a personal stake in ensuring their development. Imagine an OB/GYN that’s constantly being bombarded with questions about male birth control from curious and concerned male visitors or an adult man who wishes he took more responsibility when it came to family planning with his partner. Picture an advocate for social and environmental change that’s noticed a direct correlation between the world’s problems and unintended pregnancies. “OMG OB/GYN”, “Regretful Reggie”, and “Unplanned Ursula” represent the lived experiences of someone who has a vested interest in seeing novel male contraceptive products hit the market.

​MCI has created personas like these and many others to understand how user preferences for male contraceptive devices can change as a man progresses through his reproductive journey. Understanding the circumstances that motivate people to adopt novel male contraceptives will be crucial for ensuring that when new devices become available, they are capable of serving the greatest number of people.

Check out the persona games and activities by clicking the button below:

MCI's persona games & activities