That's a good point- I think Dan Brown may have made the point in
Communicating Design but in many coversatiins with Todd Z W - I would
say we all agree - if at all possible- never just email your
deliverable - especially conceptually abstract ones like personas,
concept models/maps, wireflows, sitemaps, ix models. Present in person
or via conference webex or video call- they need backstory and context
and they need you there to shape the audiences perception of them.
Don't sent them ahead of time either so opinions are and arguments are
not formulated before you discuss. Presentation of the deliverables is
just as cruciall as the documents themselves and you are on the hook
for designing their introduction to them :-)
will evans
emotive architect &
hedonic designer
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
617.281.1281
twitter: semanticwill
aim: semanticwill
gtalk: wkevans4
skype: semanticwill
_________________________
Sent via iPhone
On Nov 18, 2008, at 5:47 AM, "Sam Menter" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi
The biggest problem I've found with personas comes when they haven't
been
explained fully to a client - for example a stakeholder has been
forwarded
the persona document, and they see the personas as representing a
demographic rather than a segmentation based on likely user tasks.
I guess it's probably inevitable that the designer makes some
assumptions
based on the persona, but hopefully these assumptions lean more
towards
informed decisions if the persona has been well researched!
All the best
Sam
www.pixelthread.co.uk
2008/11/18 Mike Stiso <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Ok, this information has been helpful. What Elizabeth and Steve say
about the statistical methods (clustering, etc.) behind persona
creation makes sense, and that kind of analysis is something that I
already do.
The problem is that I've never witnessed nor heard of personas being
created in such a manner (which is perhaps part of a larger problem).
Rather, I see examples of personas described in an amount of detail
that would necessitate a large and comprehensive dataset, built up
iteratively based on ongoing analyses. That would be ideal, I think,
but it seems to be something of a rarity in industry, and so my
concern is that such detail is often added based just on a hunch.
Also, classification and grouping methods have been around for a
while. If personas make use of the same methods, does persona
creation mainly involve adding another step to the process:
instantiating the different classifications into individual
characters? If so, the primary benefit of doing would seem to be the
achievement of a possible means of communication with others
(clients, developers, etc.).
I can see using the instantiations as a focus for design, too, but
there's a risk of treating the creation as more than a statistical
representation, which could lead to assumptions about the
character's behavior, motivation, and characteristics that are based
on the designer's stereotypes rather than on actual data. However, I
can imagine that being either a good or a bad thing, depending on the
designer.
Thanks for all the info so far.
Mike
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=35624
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