Human-Computer Interaction Series Editors-in-Chief John Karat Jean Vanderdonckt, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium Editorial Board Simone Barbosa, PUC-Rio, Brazil Gaëlle Calvary, LIG-University of Grenoble 1, France John Carroll, The Pennsylvania State University, USA Gilbert Cockton, Northumbria University, UK Larry Constantine, University of Madeira, Portugal Steven Feiner, Columbia University, USA Peter Forbrig, Universität Rostock, Germany Elizabeth Furtado, University of Fortaleza, Brazil Hans Gellersen, Lancaster University, UK Robert Jacob, Tufts University, USA Hilary Johnson, University of Bath, UK Gerrit Meixner, DFKI, Germany Dianne Murray, Putting People Before Computers, UK Kumiyo Nakakoji, University of Tokyo, Japan Philippe Palanque, Université Paul Sabatier, France Oscar Pastor, University of Valencia, Spain Costin Pribeanu, National Institute for Research & Development in Informatics, Romania Gerd Szwillus, Universität Paderborn, Germany Manfred Tscheligi, Center for Usability Research and Engineering, Austria Gerrit van der Veer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands Shumin Zhai, IBM Almaden Research Center, USA Thomas Ziegert, SAP Research CEC Darmstadt, Germany
Human-Computer Interaction is a multidisciplinary fi eld focused on human aspects of the development of computer technology. As computer-based technology becomes increasingly pervasive - not just in developed countries, but worldwide - the need to take a human-centered approach in the design and development of this technology becomes ever more important. For roughly 30 years now, researchers and practitioners in computational and behavioral sciences have worked to identify theory and practice that influences the direction of these technologies, and this diverse work makes up the fi eld of human computer interaction. Broadly speaking it includes the study of what technology might be able to do for people and how people might interact with the technology. In this series we present work which advances the science and technology of developing systems which are both effective and satisfying for people in a wide variety of contexts. The human computer interaction series will focus on theoretical perspectives (such as formal approaches drawn from a variety of behavioral sciences), practical approaches (such as the techniques for effectively integrating user needs in system development), and social issues (such as the determinants of utility, usability and acceptability). For further volumes: http:www.springer.com/series/6033
Lene Nielsen Personas - User Focused Design
Lene Nielsen Interaction Design Group IT University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark ISSN 1571-5035 ISBN 978-1-4471-4083-2 ISBN 978-1-4471-4084-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4084-9 Springer London Heidelberg New York Dordrecht Library of Congress Control Number: 2012943351 Translation from the Danish language edition: Persona- Brugerfokuseret design by Lene Nielsen, Aarhus University Press 2011. All rights reserved Springer-Verlag London 2013 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, speci fi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro fi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied speci fi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci fi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Contents Introduction: Stories About Users... 1 1 A Career with Personas... 2 2 To Be Able to Enter into the Lives of the Users... 4 3 Focusing... 6 4 Many Names One Concept... 7 5 Product Development... 7 6 Personas for IT and Products... 8 7 Two, Four, or Six Personas?... 8 8 A Process, Not a User Portrait... 9 9 Ten Steps to Personas... 10 10 Meetings and Workshops... 11 11 Other Approaches to Personas... 14 11.1 The Goal-Directed Perspective... 14 11.2 The Role-Based Perspective... 15 11.3 The Engaging Perspective... 15 11.4 The Fiction-Based Perspective... 16 12 Criticism... 17 13 Persona, Narrativity, and System Development... 17 14 The Internet Portal and the Furniture Factory... 18 14.1 Reporting Through Virk.dk... 18 14.2 The Starting Point... 19 14.3 The Personas... 20 14.4 Scenarios... 20 14.5 In Use... 21 14.6 Furniture and Innovation... 21 14.7 Data... 22 14.8 Personas... 22 14.9 Use... 22 References... 23 v
vi Contents 1: A Slice of the World... 25 1 Preparation... 26 2 Methods... 28 3 Examples of Data Collection... 29 3.1 TYPO3... 29 3.2 Virk.dk... 33 3.3 Andersen Furniture... 34 References... 35 2: The First Connections... 37 1 Get the Meaning Across... 37 1.1 Contrasts... 38 1.2 Affinity Diagrams... 39 1.3 System of Coordinates... 40 2 Use of Secondary Data... 42 3 Group Analysis... 43 References... 44 3: Food for Thought... 45 1 Is It Possible to Generalise?... 45 2 Is the Analysis Reliable?... 46 3 Is the Study Valid?... 46 4 Oppositions... 48 References... 48 4: The Final Number... 49 1 Virk.dk... 49 2 Furniture... 51 3 Mobile Service... 51 4 Website for Asthmatics... 55 5: Do You Know Karina?... 59 1 Persona Descriptions Must Be Used... 60 2 Stereotype, Archetype, or Persona... 62 3 People as Form... 63 4 Stories for Inspiration... 64 5 Engaging Stories... 65 6 Thelma & Louise: Recognition, Alignment, and Loyalty... 66 7 A Real Person... 68 8 Back to the Persona Description... 69 9 Style of Writing... 70 10 Photos... 72 11 The Name... 73 12 Group Personas... 74 13 Interested Parties... 74
Contents vii 14 A Writing Process... 76 15 A Persona Template... 79 References... 79 6: Exposition to Action... 81 1 Situations and Needs... 82 2 When Does a Goal Arise?... 82 3 Three Theories as to What Makes People Act... 83 4 Interaction Design and Product Design... 84 5 Situations and Data... 84 5.1 Personas for the Furniture Factory Andersen... 84 5.2 Personas for JBS... 85 5.3 Virk.dk... 85 References... 86 7: The Reality of Everyone?... 87 1 Inclusion of the Organisation in the Validation... 87 Reference... 89 8: Get the Message Across!... 91 1 Communicating to Different Target Groups... 91 2 Signalling Effect... 92 3 Posters, Mood Boards, and Playing Cards... 93 4 Some Good Advice... 95 References... 98 9: Stories About the Future... 99 1 The Scenario from Strategy to Product Development... 101 1.1 Scenarios for Discussing Future Crises... 101 1.2 Scenarios for IT System Development... 102 2 Persona and Scenario... 104 3 Creating a Story... 105 4 Scenarios as Stories... 106 5 Narrative Structure... 108 5.1 The Scene... 109 5.2 Events... 109 5.3 Goals... 110 5.4 Obstacles... 110 5.5 Cohesion... 111 5.6 Closure... 112 5.7 Causality and Plot... 112 5.8 The Narrator... 113 5.9 Scenario Elements... 114 6 Design for Various Usages... 114 7 Writing and Reading... 116
viii Contents 8 The Scenario and the Reader... 116 9 Documentation... 117 10 The Difficult Writing Process... 118 11 Pros and Cons... 120 12 Templates... 123 12.1 Template for Scenarios for Ideation... 123 12.2 Template for Scenarios Looking at Current Solutions... 124 References... 124 10: It Does Not End Here... 127 1 New Knowledge... 127 2 New Project Members... 128 3 Choose an Ambassador... 128 References... 128 Personas in a More User-Focused World... 129 1 An Australian Perspective on Personas... 129 1.1 In the Beginning... 129 1.2 The Value of Personas... 130 1.3 Developing Personas... 131 1.4 Future Predictions: Form and Value... 133 2 Brazil... 133 2.1 The First Project... 134 2.2 New Research Methods... 135 2.3 The Future... 135 3 Japan... 135 3.1 The Quality... 136 3.2 The Future... 136 4 Russia... 137 4.1 The Field of UX Design... 137 4.2 A Method Difficult to Sell... 138 4.3 Working with Personas... 138 4.4 Our Method... 139 4.5 Recommendations... 139 5 Finland... 140 5.1 Personas as a Part of Design... 140 5.2 A Bit of History... 141 5.3 The Work with Personas... 141 6 India and North Korea... 143 6.1 History... 143 6.2 Recent Past... 144 6.3 Korea... 145 6.4 Current: India... 145 6.5 Personas... 146 7 A Brief Overview of Personas in the UK... 146 7.1 Personas Evaluated... 147 7.2 Approaches to Personas... 148
Contents ix 8 Denmark... 149 8.1 A Tool... 150 8.2 The Value... 150 8.3 The Challenges... 151 9 Cross-Cultural Perspectives... 152 9.1 Different Markets, Different People... 153 9.2 Subcontractors... 153 9.3 Participants from Different Markets... 154 10 Goal Achieved... 154 References... 154 Index... 155