User Centered Design: Using Personas
In order to create user centric applications / solutions, we must keep users in mind. One of the best ways to do that is by designing software using “personas” – fictitious yet concrete representational users.
Pragmatic Personas: Putting the User back in User Stories
Presented by Jeff Patton on Dec 23, 2009 [ INFOQ ] [ LINK TO VIDEO ]
Summary
Jeff briefly reviews the different ways that software is currently built and then describes how to create and use user personas to design and build software that has a better user experience. Jeff walks us through how to collaboratively build a user persona, what a user persona should include, and how to use these personas to write user scenarios that end up as user stories wit.
What are personas?
Wikipedia has a nice entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_%28marketing%29
Personas are fictional characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are useful in considering
- the goals,
- desires,
- and limitations
of the users in order to help to guide decisions about a product, such as features, interactions, and visual design.
According to this blog [darmano] personas:
Personas often combine narratives and sometimes scenarios that often go into great detail to paint a plausible profile which looks at a person’s motivations, goals, mindset, wants, needs, desires etc. And often times, personas are often cross-channel—taking a holistic look at the entire consumer experience.
[boxesandarrows] : “Personas and scenarios tell honest stories that are sculpted from diverse and comprehensive sets of data.”
What characteristics are included in a persona?
: http://www.usability.gov/analyze/personas.html
A persona usually includes:
- a name and picture
- demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family status)
- job title and major responsibilities
- goals and tasks in relation to your site
- environment (physical, social, technological)
- a quote that sums up what matters most to the persona with relevance for your site
Why personas are important:
http://www.hceye.org/HCInsight-Nielsen.htm
- Personas put a face on the customer. Some persona programs give people names so you can refer to them and see them in a physical representation. The agency Organic creates persona rooms where their people live so the project team can become fully immersed.
- Personas remove the tendency to think of yourself as the customer. You have to step back and this gives you the structure to do so.
- Act as a guide throughout the process of developing marketing communications programs, cross mediums (print, digital, outdoor, TV, etc.).
- Keeps designers, copywriters, programmers on track and avoids waste by remaining focused on the customer.
A 10 Step Process to Personas by Lene Nielsen, Ph.D.
http://www.hceye.org/HCInsight-Nielsen.htm
Lene Nielsen wrote her Ph.D. thesis "Engaging Personas and Narrative Scenarios" in 2004. She is part-time assistant professor at Center of Applied ICT, at Copenhagen Business School
and part-time usability consultant at Snitker & Co.
Do personas work?
Use of Personas Boosts Conversion by 400% [link]
think big by starting small
Steve Franzman, founder of Detoxologie.com, a client who used personas to boost conversion by 400%, and get a 2 to 1 return on a floundering Pay-Per-Click campaign.
Personas Drive Universal Orlando Site Revamp [link]
Universal Orlando’s marketing executives had spent several years tweaking the theme park’s online presence for incremental gains in conversion…. After a period of testing and conversion analysis, Universal Orlando sketched … personas, each with a different set of motivators and travel needs. … So how’s it working? …
- new site was living up to its expectations,
- beating the old version on 30 out of 40 measures, including likeability….
- Online ticket purchases, a key metric for the resort, are up almost 80% year to date.
Personas work because they tell stories.
http://www.wqusability.com/articles/personas_storytelling.html
Stories are part of every community. They communicate culture, organize and transmit information. Most importantly, they spark the imagination as you explore new ideas. They can ignite action.