personas: bringing users alivewhitneyquesenbery.com/handouts/personas-overview.pdf · personas tell...

Personas: Bringing Users Alive

Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved

Personas:Bringing Users Alive

Whitney Quesenbery

Whitney Interactive [email protected]

Usability NJ - June 18, 2003

2©2003, Whitney Quesenbery

Why Personas




Archetype Stereotype

Personas are...

A portrait of a typical user,based on dataA “real person” for whom theinterface is designedPersonas

Represent importantdemographicsHave a personal backgroundand relationshipHave tasks and goals

Hypothetical… … Not real

Archetypal … Not average

Specific …Not generalized


What do we know about these people?• Ages 30-45• Well educated• 45% married with children• Over half use the web 3-5 times a week• 65% use search engines

And how would we usethis information to makedesign decisions?




What do we know about this person?

Elizabeth• 35 years old, married to Joe, has a

5 year-old son, Mike• Attended State College and

manages her class alumni site• Uses Google as her home page• Last used the web to find the name

of a local official


Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data

3. Analyze and identify

4. Name and detail

5. Use in design

6. Use in evaluation




Challenge #1: Hearing users at all

Sales andCustomers

BusinessGoals

TechnicalRequirements

Design andBranding Users


Challenge #2: Organizing the data

Generalmarket

knowledge

Competitivemarketplaceand products

Marketsegments orother user

groups

Business orother

functionsmet by the

product

Contextof use

Purchasedecisions

Points ofpain




Challenge #3: Seeing the individuals

How do we understand eachperson, not as part of a groupor a demographic, but as anindividual with a history,goals, interests and arelationship to the product


Challenge #4: Communicating clearly




Personas tell stories

Stories are patterns.They...

Present a coherentvision of the worldStore and transmitknowledgeHelp organize factsin new ways

Stories help us shareinformation, vision, andvalues

The Springboard ProjectStephen Denning - www.stevedenning.com


Creating Personas




Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design


• Hearing users at all• Organizing and presenting data• Seeing individuals• Communicating clearly


Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design


• Identifying sources of information• Choosing research techniques• Information to collect




Planning for gathering dataIdentify and narrow target users for research

Start from current definitionsMarket segmentsUser groups or target users

Decide on a focusWhich groups are important to the business?Or are not well served by the current product?Or have unique characteristics?

Decide on a scopeAre you working within one large segment, or looking acrossdifferent types of users

Eliminate peripheral or infrequent usersThey may have important considerations, but do not drive thedesign


Personas and market segments

BothMay be based on similar or overlapping dataPresent a set of portraits to help business make decisions

ButFill different needs…and are not the same

PERSONAS

Built on different types andstyles of interactionFocus on defining user’sgoals and how to meet themPrimarily based onqualitative research

MARKET SEGMENTS

Built on different buyingbehaviorsFocus on how the businesscan reach and attract themRelative quantitative size ofsegments is important




ActivitiesTasks

Influencers or advisorsDecision factorsBarriersExpectations

Information needsTactile and visualTrust and assurance

What do we want to learn?

Personal characteristics

Goals and tasks

Motivations

Attitudes and needs

Demographic detailsPersonal characteristicsJob or domain knowledgeComputer and web skills


Listen for stories

Stories reveal tacitinformation

What do they tell storiesabout?Who is in their stories?

Quotes help you heartheir voice

What terminology dothey use?How they talk about thetask or product




Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design


• Understanding types of personas• Finding patterns in the data• Identifying possible personas• Prioritizing the personas


Patterns in personas

1. Strong primary andsecondary personas,often based on tasks

2. A collection ofpersonas, differentiated bykey characteristics, or

A spectrum, basedon 1-2 strongly relatedcharacteristics

3. A matrix, based ontwo orthogonalvariables




Look for patterns in the data

Look for personal similarities in:Interaction styles or the type of thingsthey do with the productPeople with similar backgrounds orpersonal characteristicsPatterns in attitudes or goals

Look for task similaritiesBy function: Job titles or tasksBy usage patterns: Frequency andvariability of useBy level of experience: Domain orcomputer knowledge and comfort

Look for shared stories

Navigates easily

The web savesme time

Visits a lot of different sitesUses e-commerce

Mistrustful ofinfo online

Leaves a sitequickly

No-nonsense.Doesn’t like cute

Very deliberateapproach to web

Takes notes asshe works

Uses searchLikes to printlong pages toread and save


Identify possible personas

Look for variables thatidentify distinct differencesbetween participantsTest pairs of variables byplotting participants againstthem on a matrixClusters of participantsrepresent possible personasIn each cluster, oneparticipant will often be theinspiration for the persona

P2

P1

P6

P5

P3

P4

P7P8P9

P10

11

P12

13




Prioritizing the personas

To choose a primary persona, look for:The persona with the most (or most complex) needsA persona who needs extra support to complete typicaltasks

The primary persona may not be the most importantmarket segment

Meeting the primary persona’s needs should not make itimpossible for other personas (or valuable marketsegments) to be successfulThe scope of the personas (ie, everyone who visits the site)may be broader than the market segments (ie, people whobuy or use your product)


Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design


• Naming the persona• Filling in the details• Selecting pictures




Fill in the details

Make a poster or area of the white-board for eachpersona

Go through your notesand add any materialthat that helps illustrateeach persona

1

2

3 Add some standard details foreach persona:

- What are the top usability needs?- How do they look for information?- What are the risks for this person?- What are their goals?

4 Give them aname andpersonaldetails: age,gender,family, job


Choose details that...

Make sense in the context of the project, because they:Reflect part of the environment that will be part of the contextof useSuggest how the persona might make an important decisionExplain past choices or history in similar activities

Help differentiate the personas because they:Expand on the differences between them, either directly or byanalogySuggest different design choices in interaction, style orrelationship

Connect to usability issues, such as:The 5EsLearning styles

Let the team get to know the personas by:Revealing personal choices, lifestyle or activitiesBeing a little bit of fun




Choosing pictures

Each persona needs a pictureUsually a head shot, not a full photoThey should accurately reflect thedemographics of the personaThey can be used to fill out thediversity of the personas

Some attributes of the persona canbe represented with images

Provides a balance for the wordsCan be more suggestive andambiguousGood for visual learnersGood way to involve graphic designersto contribute to the personas

Sources of imagesStock librariesMagazinesClip artCatalogs

Don’t use peopleyou knowConsider copyrightand how the imageswill be used


Validate the personas

Review them with others who meetreal users

Do sales or support staff recognize them?

Review them with user or internalbusiness stakeholders

Do they recognize themselves?Do they recognize their colleagues

Test them against market segmentsDo they match, or at least make sense asrelating to the same people?

Do they “work” ascharacters and matchthe storytelling testfor:

CoverageCoherenceUniquenessGoodness-of-fit




Using Personas


Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design


• Create scenarios based on thepersonas that show what, when,why and how

• Use scenarios to develop designideas




Start with scenarios

Short stories that illustratehow the persona will use thesite or application

Focus on storytelling, ratherthan on representing taskanalysisShow how the new design willsolve specific problems,remove barriers, or minimizeriskConnect to characteristics ofthe personasUse stories from the initialresearch as sources

Establish a goal and contextWhy is the persona usingthe product nowWhat will make thisinteraction successful

Describe the interactionStay at a high level andAvoid detailed descriptionsof the interface

End with the resultWhat happens as a resultof this interactionWhat made it a success


Personas have a point of view

Personas can“comment” ondesign issues




Personas keep design work grounded

Use personas to keep work connected to real peopleDesign, plan or write for the personas, making sure a newdesign works for each of them

Bring personas to design sessionsUse the personas to work through design problems

Role play to explore differences in how the personas reactto different designs

Consider not just what they would do, but how they wouldprefer to do it


Creating personas

1. Set goals

2. Gather data


4. Name and detail

5. Use in design

6. Use in evaluation• Use personas for design

reviews• Use personas for

recruiting profiles




Use the personas for design reviewsUse the personas (and theirscenarios) for a task walk-throughConduct the review as youwould an expert or cognitivewalk-through, but from the pointof view of a persona.

Walk through a taskUse the persona to makenavigation choicesLook at each screen/page form thepersona’s perspectiveMake notes of the interactions andchoices


Using scenarios for usability

The scenarios become the scriptsto walk through the interfacedesign, and see whether it supportsthe features.

It’s not a usability test, but a good wayto check a design as it is created

Scenarios can be the basis for QAtesting

Do they show typical or unusual waysof using the program?The context established in the storycan be helpful in creating a realistic QAscript

Every Thursday, lorem ipsumdolor ipspantio

Then, she loremipsum dolormanent andconsqueitor

Whenloremipsumdolor, shemanentandconsqueit

Sometimesdolor, lorumpusum andmanent




Personas are a way to communicate

Communication within thedesign group

Team exercise in creating thepersonasStimulus for designdiscussions

Communication to the restof the development group

As a basis for comparingdesigns

Communication to otherstakeholders

A vision of how the productwill be used


Contact Information

Whitney QuesenberyWhitney Interactive Designp: 908-638-5467e: [email protected]: www.WQusability.com

Whitney Quesenbery designs interfaces for projects from web sites toapplications and helps companies implement a user experience capability toimprove the usability of their products. She is an expert in developing newconcepts that achieve the goal of meeting business, user and technologyneeds.

As a developer of LUCID (Logical User-Centered Interaction Design), shepromotes the importance of a user-centered approach and usability in design.

Whitney is a director of the Usability Professionals’ Association(www.upassoc.org), and web site manager for the STC Usability SIG(www.stcsig.org/usability/)

personas: bringing users alivewhitneyquesenbery.com/handouts/personas-overview.pdf · personas tell...

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