On Nov 19, 2007, at 10:26 AM, Jeff White wrote: > Also, how relevant is the information? What design decision would you > make based on the following information from the persona? > > "He doesn't suffer fools, just as he won't put up with anything that > stands in the way of getting his job done." > > I realize part of the perceived value of personas is the narrative. I > do think, as someone in this thread suggested, that formatting the > data in more of an outline format - headings, bullets, etc - removing > some fluff, would go a long way towards getting people to actually > consume the data. > > If I'm expected to constantly refer back to a document when I'm > designing something, then don't format the thing so it takes 10 > minutes to read, and you have to sift through long paragraphs of > content to find valuable info.
When building personas, we recommend to our clients they build two versions: (1) a narrative 2-page description and (2) a short reference-card version (one flap of a tri-fold, so you can get 3 personas on the same page). The bullets are useful for outlining the distinguishing elements of a given persona (what makes this person different from others?). However, the narrative is also important because, since the point of the persona creation process is to make these people as real as possible, stories do a better job of creating real characters in our minds than lists of bullets. When we guide our clients on how to build the narratives, we tell them that every sentence should have a clear implication on the design. The sentence you quoted: > "He doesn't suffer fools, just as he won't put up with anything that > stands in the way of getting his job done." doesn't really meet that criteria, since it's not clear how this will impact the design, other than to say it needs to be efficient in its communication. (It implies a High-D personality, if you're familiar with the DiSC model.) There are probably better ways to state this where the implication is clearer. Recently, I was showed a persona from a client with this text: > Amy lives with her boyfriend Tom in a two-bedroom apartment with > his French bulldog Milo. She moved into his place last year right > after they got engaged. They're not calling the new arrangement a > trial, but they know that living together will test their > relationship and say a lot about their compatibility. At first glance, this seems also to be frivolous. Why do we care about when she moved in or what the dog's name is? However, this is for an application in the home improvement market (can't say any more). The tenuousness of the relationship, the fact that improvement projects and supplies need to be pet-friendly, and the fact that it's not *her* apartment does dictate her attitudes towards improvement projects. For example, later in the description is this sentence: "Knowing that the apartment is transitional prevents her from getting too caught up in all the things she hates about it: the leaky faucet, the particleboard and laminate cabinets in the kitchen, and the white walls throughout." A designer of a home improvement resource could easily imagine providing Amy with resources to help her make quick, inexpensive, and potentially movable fixes to her temporary living space. One could put this type of content into bullets: + Recently engaged + Lives in boyfriend's apartment + Doesn't make changes because they will move soon You can decide which one helps you better internalize the character, such that you can role play Amy's life and decision making processes. When done well (and it always come down to the quality of the process), the narrative can be a very powerful for many people. Jared ________________________________________________________________ *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
