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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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
3©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
4©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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?
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
5©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
6©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
7©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Challenge #1: Hearing users at all
Sales andCustomers
BusinessGoals
TechnicalRequirements
Design andBranding Users
8©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Challenge #2: Organizing the data
Generalmarket
knowledge
Competitivemarketplaceand products
Marketsegments orother user
groups
Business orother
functionsmet by the
product
Contextof use
Purchasedecisions
Points ofpain
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
9©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
10©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Challenge #4: Communicating clearly
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
11©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
12©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating Personas
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
13©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
• Hearing users at all• Organizing and presenting data• Seeing individuals• Communicating clearly
14©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
• Identifying sources of information• Choosing research techniques• Information to collect
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
15©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
16©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
17©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
18©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
19©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
• Understanding types of personas• Finding patterns in the data• Identifying possible personas• Prioritizing the personas
20©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
21©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
22©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
23©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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)
24©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
• Naming the persona• Filling in the details• Selecting pictures
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
25©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
26©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
27©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
28©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
29©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Using Personas
30©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation
• Create scenarios based on thepersonas that show what, when,why and how
• Use scenarios to develop designideas
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
31©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
32©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Personas have a point of view
Personas can“comment” ondesign issues
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
33©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
34©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
Creating personas
1. Set goals
2. Gather data
3. Analyze and identify
4. Name and detail
5. Use in design
6. Use in evaluation• Use personas for design
reviews• Use personas for
recruiting profiles
Personas: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
35©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
36©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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: Bringing Users Alive
Whitney [email protected] | www.WQusability.com© 2002, 2003 Whitney Quesenbery, All Rights Reserved
37©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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
38©2003, Whitney Quesenbery
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/)