Target Actor
Kosh's outcome is clear: users build an emergency fund. But who, exactly, has to do something differently for that to happen? "Everyone who wants to save" sounds generous. In practice it means a design that fits a 23-year-old on her first salary, a shop owner with irregular income and a retired teacher equally badly.
The rule
Name the one person whose action creates the outcome — and know their situation.
The target actor is the person whose behavior must change for the target outcome to happen. Two things make this less obvious than it sounds.
The actor is not always the end user. For "young children brush their teeth twice a day", the person who actually has to act is usually a parent. For "employees save through payroll", the first actor is an HR manager who must switch the scheme on. Design for the wrong person and you get a beautiful feature that the person who could act never sees.
Describe actors by their relationship to the action, not just demographics. Age and city matter less than:
- Prior experience with the behavior: have they ever saved regularly? What happened?
- Context: how they are paid, which devices they use, what their month looks like.
- Motivation: why they might want this, and what competes with it.
- Ability and constraints: income left after rent, time, knowledge, access.
Two 24-year-olds in the same city can sit in completely different places on all four.
Start with one actor. Different actors need different designs, and a design for everyone rarely fits anyone.
The shortcut
Follow the action to a person. For the outcome, ask "who has to do something differently?" List every candidate, then pick the one whose action most directly creates the outcome and whom the product can actually reach.
List candidates
Young earners themselves. Their employers, who could offer payroll saving. Their parents, who could encourage them.
The trap is a vague actor such as "millennials" or "people who want to save", which gives every later design decision nothing to push against.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
The outcome is "children aged five brush their teeth twice a day". Who is the most likely target actor?
Why describe actors by their relationship to the action rather than only age and city?
Kosh wants companies to switch on payroll saving for staff. Who is the actor for "switch on payroll saving"?
Why start with one target actor?
Remember
- Name the one person whose action creates the outcome — and know their situation.
- Shortcut: follow the action to a person; pick the most direct one you can reach.
- Trap: vague actors like "everyone who wants to save".