Users and Personae
Next week I’m asking you to think about your project from the perspective of the users. Obviously, you’ve probably done a little of this when addressing the competitive analysis, but you need to dig a bit deeper here, and figure out what uses and gratifications people are seeking and how you might be able to provide for these with your project.
One way you might do this is by establishing a set of personae for potential users. What are their names, their backgrounds, their attitudes, and how might they encounter and use your site. Providing a bit of life history, understand the contexts in which they use the web (where’s the computer? are they at work? how long do they have? why did they come to use it this time?), and exploring how important it is that you meet their needs.
Once you’ve figured out who these example users are–and they should be a kind of archetype of a user: power users and those who have just happened on your site for example–you need to provide some user scenarios. What are some of the typical ways in which people will use your site and why? What are their goals? How do you meet them effectively?
Most design processes these days make some use of personae. This may be limited to asking the client who a few of their most common types of users are. Or, in some cases, it may mean going as far as cutting out posters for each of the personae and posting them around the office so that you can ask questions of them as you are proceeding with your design.
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:38 am
So does this mean this assignment is not due tonight because the module says Nov. 2nd?
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:52 am
This was a clarification. But, I’m not allowed to use a computer until Wednesday, so if you need more time, take it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I may have to take you up on your allowing us more time for this part of the assignment. I decided to do a Flash video this week… and didn’t realize that it was going to take forever. My bad.
November 3rd, 2009 at 7:38 pm
[...] I am going to expand a little on our users’ needs for the snactivitymom.com website project. The World Through My Eyes has posted about some of the needs that we, along with my teammate WellComm, had discussed this weekend. It seems that there are even more user needs to consider, and I will now attempt to respond to the questions raised Professor Halavais’ latest blog post. [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
[...] early and we finalized the assignment before we see professor Halavais latest post on the “Users and Personae“, we decided that we will expand on the assignment in different posts in order to incorporate [...]
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
[...] Dr. Halavais’ suggestion, I am going to completely make up two users. These are not real people, but they are examples of [...]