On Mar 9, 2009, at 6:25 AM, Megan Grocki wrote:
What do you think, has an inherent gap been revealed in the
usefulness of personas as we know them? Has anyone else gotten this
sense, and if so, can personas be redeemed?
I'm skeptical myself. Which is why I wrote this a few years ago:
<http://www.adaptivepath.com/ideas/essays/archives/000524.php>
The gist of the article:
"Half of the personas out there are entirely made up, with no user
research to back them. In most cases, no one on the design team has
talked directly to users to find out who they are, so designers come
up with an idea of a user type. The resulting personas are like the
designer’s imaginary friends."
"The greatest pitfall with personas is that most of them focus on the
wrong things. Differences between personas are often chosen based on
demographics and preferences, not the things that really matter, like
goals, motivations, and behaviors."
"The differences between personas must be based on these deeper issues
— what people do (actions or projected actions), and why they do them
(goals and motivations) — and not as much on who people are."
Dan
Dan Saffer
Principal, Kicker Studio
http://www.kickerstudio.com
http://www.odannyboy.com
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