Comments on: An alternative approach to personas

By: Neil Allison

Neil Allison — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

I guess it all comes down to how the stakeholder and/or development group engage with them. Personas are pretty worthless if everyone doesn’t have them in their mind as they collaborate/provide feedback/enagage/whatever.

I like the idea but am more of a detail person myself. That and I find getting one good image per persona to be a big enough pain :)

By: Nica Lorber

Nica Lorber — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:38:00 +0000

I like it. I think it helps humanize the process. It also speaks to collaborators who internalize things better when they can see a visual.

One of my favorite speakers, Leisa Reichelt, talks about that the best way to use personas is to make sure everyone on your team knows their names and that the whole group refers to them by name throughout the project.

I think this visual would help in that process. Make it more real for some folks.

By: Hugh Law

Hugh Law — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:10:00 +0000

Although the title of this article suggests it, I don’t think Paul is suggesting you replace persona creation entirely, but merely enhance the persona creation process with the above. I suppose it depends on the project, but I think the idea of possessions can make a difference. I think you can tell a lot, for example, the 2 smartphones (maybe an ipod…) suggest that she would be reasonably tech savvy, the trend in the colours give an impression of her character, the camera keyring suggests she may be artistic also. I agree that this would not be enough to build up a full picture, but i don’t think it should be dismissed altogether.

By: Edwin Waelbers

Edwin Waelbers — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:36:00 +0000

How do you know she’s Tic-Tac keeping in her purse?

Just a wild guess? Or did you measure this one? How?

And what’s the impact of possessing Tic-Tac on the interface?

Can I see if she’s a nerd or is she more a computer illiterate person?
Is she an internet power user or not?

How frequently is she using the website? And what about comparable sites?
Is she motivated using the website? Is she afraid? Why?

And again, if you know it all, did you measure it or are you just using your imagination?

Frankly, it’s not an alternative way to personas, it’s just a wrong approach.