I *could* argue that 37Signals *does* use personas, though it would be a semantic argument. Jason refers to "our problems", which suggests to me a summary of a collection of users. He just happens to know all the users who make up that summary representation. Maybe he doesn't like to call that a persona because to call it such wouldn't be controversial.
The bottom line is that he visualizes users, makes decisions based on information about users, and prioritizes decisions based on that information. Designers in other contexts (larger organizations, complex applications, etc.) may not have the luxury of personally knowing representatives of the target audience. -- Dan On 11/14/07, Sara Summers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jason touched on that during his opening remarks at sxsw interactive 2006. > Which I can't seem to find the podcast for either... > He said that instead, they made Basecamp with simple features, then launched > and opened the discussion to the community, the same model that Mozilla > uses. > > I enjoy this process more myself, as it seems to invoke interest, personal > ownership, and community synergy. > > Sara Summers > visual | interaction design > 512-297-1330 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Robert Hoekman, Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Celeste 'seele' Paul" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: <discuss@lists.interactiondesigners.com> > Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:58 PM > Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Examples where personas are *not* useful > > > > > > >> I'm not sure how informed Jason Fried is of what a persona really is. > > > > > > I can't find a URL, but I swear he said once that he used to use them and > > eventually turned against them. > > > > "They're [personas are] artificial, abstract, and fictitious." > > ________________________________________________________________ > *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* > February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA > Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > -- | work: eightshapes.com | book: communicatingdesign.com | blog: greenonions.com | talk: +1 (301) 801-4850 ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
