Personas: Learning Life Stage

The future users of male contraception have a diverse range of needs, perspectives, and interests that are shaped by their own individual experiences. In order for male contraceptive researchers and advocates to better understand user perspectives, MCI has recently dedicated more attention to developing personas. Personas are fictional characters that are used to represent a certain type of user of a site, brand, or product. Personas are useful for understanding members of a specific type of market or target audience. Understanding the needs and interests of future male contraceptive users will aid in the development and rollout of new methods when they become available.

Contraception has been primarily focused on giving women the tools they need to control their reproductive journeys from adolescence through late adulthood. As egg producers grow and progress through their reproductive lives, their contraceptive needs progress and evolve in relation to their individual experiences. For example, a woman aged 50 with two children will have different contraceptive needs than an 18-year-old recent high school graduate. The field of male reproductive health and furthermore male contraception is in a unique position to contextualize the needs of sperm producers as they evolve throughout their reproductive journey. MCI has sought to articulate the various stages of a man’s reproductive experience in order to understand the different personas that represent future male contraceptive users, beneficiaries, and intermediaries.

The first life stage is the learning stage, in which individuals with sperm-producing bodies begin to think about sex and establish their foundation of their understanding of sexuality and relationship dynamics. Male contraceptive users in the learning stage are the individuals that will become the first early adopters of the next generation of contraceptives designed for men. The personas in this group are characterized by limited sexual and reproductive health knowledge and are not seeking to father children at this stage in their life. “College-bound Carlos”, “Curious Curtis”, and “Derpy Danny” are a few examples of young sperm producers who are in the earliest stages of their reproductive journey. While their individual reproductive experiences are limited, each persona considers preventing pregnancy a priority and would benefit from having access to novel methods of male contraception.

Novel methods of male contraception have the potential to positively impact the lives of new users as well as other groups of people who will not directly take or use these new methods. These individuals are also in the early stages of their reproductive journey and will indirectly benefit from having access to novel male contraception. Learning stage beneficiary personas are typically characterized as egg-producing bodies that are motivated to involve their male partners in contraception to reduce the burden of family planning on women. “Collaborative Connie”, “College-committed Carla”, and “Overwhelmed Ophelia” are a few examples of egg producers who are beginning their reproductive journey and would benefit from their sperm-producing counterparts utilizing new methods of male contraception.

Intermediary personas are individuals that will neither take, nor directly benefit from the next generation of male contraceptives, but still, have a vested interest in ensuring their development. Imagine a young reproductive health educator that is motivated to inform the public about sexuality and empower them to utilize the necessary tools to achieve their family planning goals. Even though this young health educator may not directly use novel male contraceptive products; the availability of new methods for men would serve as an additional resource for them in their mission to educate people on reproductive health. Similarly, a protective older sibling or supportive teacher would have a vested interest in ensuring the development of new male methods if the products would serve their younger siblings or students.   “Resource Ralphie”, “Supportive Sibling Sarah”, and “Teacher Tamara” are examples of intermediary personas that would not directly use new male methods but are interested in how they can potentially serve the people in their lives.

Personas allow us to gain a deeper understanding of users’ needs, experiences, behaviors, and motivations by providing an opportunity to empathize with someone else's point of view. Creating a character with realistic lived experiences is important when segmenting and contextualizing the future markets of male contraceptive users and non users Male Contraceptive Initiative has used personas to create various games, activities, and workshop agendas.

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

mci's persona games & activities