This document provides an overview of using personas and stories effectively in user experience design. It discusses how personas can help address challenges in user research by organizing data and building consensus around users. Personas are built from user research data and put a human face on analytics by including background stories. Effective personas include details about the person, their goals and motivations, attitudes, and background story. Stories help communicate patterns found in user research and create relationships between designers and users. Different storytelling techniques can be used including scenarios, comics, social media, and video. The document demonstrates how to develop personas, add background stories, and use personas and stories in the design process.

1. Using Personas
(and Stories)
Effectively
TriUXPA – February 26, 2014
Whitney Quesenbery
WQusability and Center for Civic Design
Twitter @whitneyq

2. Hi!
User research, usability, accessibility
 Former theatre designer


Personas (and their stories) as a way to
communicate what we know about
users, culture and context

Researcher in new UI technologies
Performance storyteller


2
Storytelling as a pivotal part of the
creation, performance, and design process.

3. What do you hope to get out of this workshop?
3

4. What are we going to do?

Personas: background and concepts

Stories: and why they work

Creating personas


Definining the set

Writing a persona

Adding stories
Introducing your personas: getting
to know them better

Seeing through personas eyes: to
review a product, feature, site....

Designing with personas: from
problem stories to solution stories

Using personas for evaluation
Analysis

4
Gathering information


5. Personas and UX
Kindersandi.moonfruit.com

6. What do think personas are?
What is the value of personas?
6

7. Personas can help address big challenges in UX

Hearing users at all

Organizing increasing
amounts of data


Building consensus
around a clear,
consistent view
A realistic view of the
people we design for
7
General
market
knowledge
Points
of pain
Business
or other
functions
met by
the
product
Competitive
marketplace
and analysis
Market
segments
Context
of use
Web
analytics

8. Personas remind us to see the individual
How do we understand each
person, not as part of a
demographic, but as an individual
with a history, goals, actions and a
relationship to the product

9. What‟s in a persona?
A. About the person
B. Goals & motivations
C. Attitudes and data
D. Background story
E. Scenarios
9

10. Personas create an integrated view of user research

Personas are built from data

They put a human face on
analytics

And their stories built empathy
by suggesting the real people
behind the persona
10

11. Personas can document assumptions
11

12. Stories connect us
Couriemail.com.au

13. We all tell stories
13

14. Personas and stories both start with listening

Why listen?
 Deeply understand others
 Empower the speaker

Research is about listening
 Ask for stories, not just opinion
 Listen for the emotion, attitudes, context in the stories

Good listening elicits good stories
 Build a connection that bridges context and culture
 Built trust – “They understand me”
14

15. Listening is not a competitive sport
Be an appreciative listener
 Give them your full attention
 Acknoweldge what you hear, non-verbally
 Give the person time to think as well as talk
 Don‟t rush the end – sometimes people have one last
thought
15

16. Listening Exercise

Work in pairs

1 minute each to be the speaker - then switch

Speaker‟s job: speak about something relatively comfortable

Listener‟s job: just listen. Don‟t have to talk, interrupt or fill
silences.
Talk about something you made that you
are proud of.

17. Ask the questions that encourage stories
“Have you ever [done something]?”
“How often do you [do that thing]?”
“What makes you decide to [do that thing]?”
“Where do you [do that thing]?”
+
+
“When was the last time you [did that thing]?”
“Tell me about that.”
(and really listen)
17

18. Listen (and watch) for juicy tidbits





Stories you hear from more than one source
Strong detail and action
Details that illuminate other user data or analytics
Stories that contradict common beliefs
Simple, clear, and compelling
18

19. Stories communicate patterns

They...


Communicate culture


Store and transmit knowledge
Explore new ideas
They help us…

Share information in memorable form

Understand emotion and desires
19

20. Stories create relationships

21. Stories are not a broadcast

22. Personas create connections
Persona stories create a
relationship between you and
the audience
22

23. Stories create connections
Sharing what you learn creates a
second story triangle with the
larger team
23

24. Stories create connections
Personas bridge the gap
between everyone on the
team and the users the
personas represent.
24

25. A story is shared by everyone who hears it
First the storyteller shapes the
story
As they listen, the audience
members form an image of the
story in their own minds.

26. A story is shared by everyone who hears it
The storyteller and
the audience each
affects the other and
shapes the story
they create.
The most important
relationship is between
the audience and the
story.
The audience is a part of the story each time it is told.

27. Stories change how we think
Our experience of the
world is shaped by our
interpretations of it, the
stories we tell
ourselves.... so the key
to personal
transformation is story
transformation.
Timothy Wilson,
author of “Redirect”
27
Maria Popova, „Redirect‟: A New Way to Think about Psychological Change, The Atlantic

28. Stories can be efficient
Tanner was deep into a Skatepunkz game—all
the way up to level 12—when he got a buddy
message from his friend, Steve, with a
question about his homework.
He looked up with a start. Almost bedtime
and his homework was still not done. Mom or
Dad would be in any minute.
28

29. Stories are embedded in the UX cycle
Collecting stories:
hearing what other
people have to say
Understand
Analysis:
finding patterns in
shared stories
Evaluate
Success?
Specify
Evaluation:
testing designs to
see if they tell the
story well
Design
Design:
creating ideas that
embody key stories

30. Storytelling is already part of UX…
We just don‟t call them stories
User research
Field studies
Site visits
Analysis
Card sorting
Cluster sorting
Content analysis
Evaluation
Usability
Testing
Log Analysis
Design
Scenarios
Wireframes
Prototype walkthrough

31. Personas come in groups




Organized around a clear set of distinctions between behavior
A spectrum of different relationships with the organization
Stages in behavior or relationships
Do the personas represent a person, an activity, or a relationship
 One persona can grow over time

Or each persona can represent a slice of time, a single role

Personas can cover multiple secondary roles, with one primary role
31

32. A clear set of distinctions

Look for variables that identify distinct
differences between participants

Test pairs of variables by plotting
participants against them on a matrix

P8
Try again until patterns start to emerge
Clusters of participants represent
possible personas

P
1
Do they have a defining characteristic?
P6
P10
1
3
P4
How are they different from the others?

P5
How are these people alike?

P7
P3
P1
2

P2
P9
Look for clusters of participants

11
In each cluster, one
participant will often be the
inspiration for the persona

33. A spectrum of roles and relationships
33

34. Open University Personas

Student personas cover a
complete student journey

When we first meet them

Enquiry process

First module

Progression through their
university career

Further on in life

And, we can write stories for
them for any project
34

35. Personas can grow over time
SELF-HELPERS
& CAREGIVERS
Assistance and Tools
- recipes and diet
- checklists
- resources
info in the tools
leads to specific
questions
EXPERTS
Specific Questions
- disease updates
- diagnostic info
learn what they
need
INFOSEEKERS
General Information
- warnings/risks
- what is it
gain more
knowledge

36. Melissa
Laura
Elizabeth
InfoSeeker
Caregiver
Expert
“I don‟t like to go
backwards to go forwards”
“I want to know how to help my “I don‟t stay on a site long if
husband”
nothing jumps out at me”
Goals:
Looking for new information
Goals:
Looking for helpful information
Typical Questions:
What is <condition>?
Am I at risk?
Typical Questions:
What do I need to know about
it? What are the next steps I
should take?
Top Usability Need:
Engaging - I can tell I‟m in the
right place by the amount and
level of information
Top Usability Needs:
Effective - I need resources, and
the right information
Risks
Curious - needs to be drawn
in. Little sense of site loyalty
Risks
Needs information she can act
on
Goals:
Information I can use
Answers to specific questions
Typical Questions:
Tell me something new
I want the latest!
I need <this> information.
Top Usability Needs:
Efficient: Give me a search box
and I‟ll tell you exactly what I
want
Risks
Already knows the basics

37. Quickly brainstorm as many stories as you can about how someone using
public transit might need, use, or miss information.
This is rapid sketching with words
Who is the story about
Where are they going / What are they doing
What might happen:
what information do they need / why do they need it
Let's create some personas....
Start by brainstorming some stories
37

38. Daily use of public transport
Henry
Commuter
P4
11
P6
35
1
7
xx
xx
36
P5
P
7
Anne
Commuter plus
most local travel
40
P5
1
2
35
P
1
10
1
5
22
32
27
1
3
26
Travels to
familiar
places
Temp workers at
30 different locations
25
P8
P2
2
1
Travels to
unknown
places
P9
Gail
Travels into city
When needed
Mrs. Henderson
Local travel
2-3x week
33
28
1
7
Jim
Travels only on
vacation
#
1
4
1
5
1
4
#
Travel to specific
1 places like
5
sports events
Occasional use of public transport
1
8
P3
23
P4

39. One model for public transit riders
Daily use
Commuters
People without
cars
Unfamiliar with
area
Know area
well
People who live
near the city
Travel for special
occasions
Tourists / visitors
Occasional use
39

40. Start from…
Your stories
And..
Decide on the basics: Name, age, gender, job, family
Where they live and work
How they get around: do they own a car, use public transit…
And now, let's sketch out the personas
40

41. How will you tell the story?
Mary and Leonard Trujillo – The Mudhead Gallery

42. What makes a good story?




Stories have
Time and place
Characters
Events
But they also have
 Emotions
 Imagery
 Interaction
 Motivation
42
metaphor, movement, weather, atmosphere, hap
piness, pride, frustration, boredom, joy, smell, an
ger, pleasure, history, context, time, goals....

43. Scenarios + emotions turn into stories
As a [role] I can [do something] so that [benefit]
+
+
Imagery + Emotion + Context + Motivation
43

44. Stories turn profiles into personas
Elizabeth, 32 years old
Married to Joe, has a 5-year old
son, Justin
Aged 30-45
Attended State College, and
manages her class alumni site
45% married with children
Uses Google as her home
page, and reads CNN online
Use the web 3-5 times a week
Used the web to find the name
of a local official
65% college educated
44

45. Whose style do you tell the story in
If you are telling a story from research, you start with the way you heard
the story. Then, do you:
Use language, terminology, and grammar they way you heard it
or
 Clean up and translate into the language of your team

Are you trying to communicate
 Research authority and a neutral picture - a “realist tale”
 Your experience of the story – a “confessional tale”
 The perspectives of the persona – an “impressionist tale”
John van Mannen – Tales from the Field
45

46. Choose your voice
Third Person
Second Person
First Person
Story is told about
someone, looking at them
from the outside
Story is a conversation
between the storyteller
and another person
Story is told from the point
of view of the main
character
For example:
A UX person telling stories
about how several different
people responded to a
prototype.
For example:
Feedback to a participant
or other stakeholder,
For example:
A UX person telling the
story of their own
reactions.
Persona stories, especially
if there is more than one
Talking directly to users of
a product
Retelling a story from the
point of view of the original
experience.
Maintains a distance
between “us” and
“them”
Creates a direct
connection and invites
the other person to
respond.
Invites the audience to
look at the story
through the eyes of the
character
46
“Interviewing a persona”

47. 3rd person allows you to explain and interpret
Mary works as a nurse in a hectic
women’s health center for a lowincome neighborhood.
…
Her questions about cancer mostly
come from her patients, or from
wanting to be sure that she
catches any early signs.
…
She has learned conversational
Spanish, so she can talk to her
patients for whom this is a first
language.
…
When she looks things up on the
Web, she tends to go back to
familiar sites
47
Whose words and thoughts are these?

Are these things that Mary would say or
are they our interpretation of all the data
and stories that went into the Mary
persona?

How can we show when we are using
her own words?

48. 2nd person creates conversation
How can you show the conversation?


Persona by Caroline Jarrett for the Open University
Interviews maintain a separation
Conversations can also happen
between two personas

49. 1st person invites identity


You represent the persona and
tell the story from their point of
view.
Lets you “get into the head” of the
story (an “impressionist tale”)
OR

49
First person can tell your story of
your experience with the person
(a “confessional tale”)

50. Add a story for your persona
Focus on imagery, emotion, context
It can be a story about a detail or small event
Help us understand their personality or emotional context
Write a story ..
50

51. Comic books

Narrative visual storytelling
can tell a story efficiently

US Army maintenance
newsletter in comic book
form
51

52. Weave stories into your reports

52
Identify
personas, not
just
participants

53. Cartoons


Reveal thoughts

53
Show relevant details
Show interactions

54. Create an identity



54
Their identity
Timeline
Snapshot

55. Social media storytelling

Six word (or 140 character) stories
can show a

Timelines

Attitudes

Events

Interactions
55

56. Make a video
The NCI Cancer Bulletin: http://www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/101910/page6

57. Visual Collage





Color
Style
Preferences
Selections
Cultural
markers
57
http://3libraschild.deviantart.com/

58. Introducing personas

59. Personas are a way to communicate

Within a project team


Stimulus for design discussions


Team exercise in creating the personas
For evaluation
Between departments


As a basis for comparing and evaluating
projects that touch customers and users
To the whole company

A vision of the audience and how the
product will be used

60. Get everyone involved in creating the personas

The process of creating personas is as important as the final results


More perspectives included in the personas


Better buy-in for something you have worked on
The process itself is important in understanding others
Use interactive exercises to introduce personas



Gives everyone a chance to work with them
Validates their perspectives
Ideas

Have the group sketch “assumption personas” and then match them to the
created personas.

Have small groups write stories for the personas as a way to explore them.
60

61. Introducing personas at National Cancer Institute
61

62. Introducing personas at National Cancer Institute
62

63. Don‟t be too protective

Acknowledge that they are a work in progress.



Ask for more input
Be open to the possibility of further improvement
Accept that there will always be people who will question



There‟s always corporate politics, “not invented here” syndromes
There‟s always some skepticism about a new technique
Know that the personas will be stronger if you can incorporate insights
from others in some way.

If you did your work well, you may find that the “revised” personas aren‟t too
different from the original versions
63

64. Make the personas hard to miss

You have to use them if you want everyone else to do so.

Make them part of everyday life


Use them in presentations, meetings, and reports

Identify usability participants by the persona they are most like


Make them visible as posters, display boards, or on the intranet
Interview them in internal newsletters
Use them (a lot)

In project reviews

To solicit input in “hallway reviews”
64

65. Share personas through posters


Make a large version of the
personas and post them near
meeting rooms or team desks
Use collage materials, and other
descriptions, plus:

Display photos or plans of typical
work spaces

Post quotations that exemplify the
persona‟s attitudes

Surround them with artifacts

Include task lists that connect the
persona to functionality in the
product
65
Follow the UX Leader

66. Immersive environments encourage stories
Ad agencies create
rooms that represent the
target market for a
brand.
66
http://www.core77.com/blog/business/core77_toyota_calty_studio_visit_round_2_how_theyre_winning_11167.asp

67. Interviewing the personas

Used to



Explore the personas in general
Imagine reactions to new ideas
For general information or about a task or feature


What stories does the persona have to tell?


What questions does the team want to ask the persona?
How do the personas talk about the topic in their own words
Tips

Be careful to stay true to the research behind the personas

Don‟t guess – acknowledge gaps in your knowledge
67

68. .
What questions do we want to ask the
personas?
68

69. Pair up: one of you is the interviewer, one is the personas
Interviewers: ask open-ended questions without judgment
Persona: Try to stay in character, and talk in first person
What did we learn
Let’s try interviewing a persona
69

70. Keep personas fresh

You might add characteristics related to new technologies



Update the types of technology the personas use or are comfortable with
Add use (or avoidance) of social media or other types of applications
You can refactor characteristics



Are the ages, geographical locations, jobs, roles and other behavior up to
date?
Adjust to changes in learning tools in classrooms or other market research
You can add stories or update references to current events



Adjust historical references to keep the age of the personas correct
Add stories or scenarios from projects
Decide if this is an update, or a whole new persona!
70

71. Changing the mix of personas

You might add or remove personas from the set



The OU added courses to appeal to a new type of student, and decided to
downgrade leisure learners in importance
NCI decided to look more closely at researchers, and created a small set of
personas to expand the initial, more general one
Over time, some personas may grow together


Persona sets often start too large, as they accommodate internal views.
Watch for opportunities to show how behaviors may cross what seem like
very different roles.
Finding the right number of personas is an art, not a science
71

72. Keep personas from “going feral”

If the personas start to sound too “good” they may be



Do they love everything that the company wants them to love, or behave in
ways that are too obvious?
Are they too bland, without any distinguishing characteristics
Challenge this tendency early

Ask “Are you sure?”

Look for confirmation from other sources

It might be a chance to do some research.
72

73. Look through their eyes
Swindon Advertiser

74. First click analysis (vote with your fingertips)
For any page (especially home pages and landing pages)

What part of this page appeals to each persona

Where is the most likely “first click” for each persona

How easy is it to find?

If this page is not for them, is there an “escape route”?
Why


74
Check for balance of needs among personas
Ensure no persona is left out of design considerations

75. Document the results
75

76. Let personas rate proposed features
Let the personas weigh in to rate ideas for new features or
functionality.



Can be part of a formal prioritization exercise.
Can focus on relative value of features for different personas
Ask:


Would each persona value it (how much and why)?

What is the value to the business

Would it be a differentiator?

What is the “cost” of building it

76
Would each persona use it (or not)?
What is the cost of maintaining it
SBI Razorfish, presentation at UPA NYC many years ago

77. Compare value for personas and difficulty for business
HIGH
Benefit to personas
Work on these
LATER
Work on these
NOW
LOW
Technical
Difficulty
HIGH
Technical
Difficulty
IGNORE
these
MAYBE
include these
LOW
Benefit to personas
77
The Personas Lifecycle – Tamara Adlin and John Pruitt

78. Persona-led Reviews
Look at a site or feature through the eyes of a persona

Use the persona's perspective instead of your expert opinion

Think about task and context, rather than design guidelines
Why

Be sure you are thinking about user experience
78

79. Step 1: Don‟t look at it (yet)

Sounds contradictory?
You have only one chance to look at something
for the first time and to think about it like a new user.
If you look at it before you try to use it, you‟ll see it differently.
If you are reviewing your own material, set it aside for a few
hours before you do the persona / story walk-through.

80. Step 2: Write a story

Choose a persona
It lets you think about the experience from their point of view
(or assign one person to everyone in the group)


If you don‟t have personas, write a quick description of one person using the
product.
Write the story

Why are they using this product?

How do they feel about it?

What are their goals?

What do they expect to happen?

Think about confident you are that you really know the persona.

81. Step 3: Try to use it - as one of the personas


"Channel" your persona.
Start where your persona would in the story.




When / how would your persona get the document?
(Open the envelope.)
Where would your persona start in the web story?
(Know the URL? Go to Google?)
Go through the content (document, web site, web topic, web page)
as if you were the persona carrying out
the persona's story.
Take notes of what works well and what does not.

82. http://www.raleighnc.gov/transit/
82

83. Step 4: Compare notes

How similar or different were the experiences?

Look for relationship problems


Look for conversation problems


Are the personas and business goals in alignment or conflict?
Did the persona understand what the site does, and how to interact with it.
Look for appearance problems

Did the personas have a positive reaction to the visual design?
83

84. Personas-led heuristic review

Ginny Redish and Dana Chisnell did a large review of 50 websites
for AARP using previously developed personas and guidelines.
“The persona‟s
observations were
much like the think
aloud commentary
during an
exploratory
(diagnostic) usablity
test.”
84
http://redish.net/articles-slides/articles-slides-older-adults

85. Designing with personas
Tomorrow and Tomorrow

86. Use personas to frame design ideas
Our products have different
names in different
countries, so it can be hard
to manage international
customer service.
Let‟s think about how we
could make it better.
What if it went
something like this...

87. Stories can kick off design brainstorming

Points of pain stories – show a problem

Stories based on analytics – show behavior

Springboard or brainstorming stories – set up a situation
87

88. Show a point of pain
Mary was filling in on payroll while Kathy, the office manager, was
away. On Thursday, Kathy left her a message to remind her about
some special bonus checks for that week.
Mary had not used the payroll program for a while, and only
remembered that special checks could be difficult. Reading the postit notes on the wall next to the computer, she scanned for
instructions, and was relieved to find one for bonuses.
She tried to follow the brief notes. She found the right screen .. Or
thought she had. But none of the instructions seemed to line up. Was
she going to have to call Kathy on her vacation?

89. Stories are not a detailed task analysis
Focus on the story
 Establish the scene with imagery
 What‟s the time-frame?
 What‟s the emotional context
Think about the persona‟s perspective
 How do they see the events or interaction?
 What words do they use? Style of language?
 What are the boundaries of the story from their point of view? (Hint: it
might not be your product!)
Don‟t use the story to describe all of the details in the user interface.
89

90. Use (relevant) details to compare and contrast

Include details outside of their interaction with your product, but
connect them to behavior that is relevant.


Think about counter-intuitive details


Example: The youngest persona may not be the most technology savvy or
have the most advanced mobile technology.
Show interactions with other products, organizations, or activities


Example: How central to their lives is this activity?
Example: Using recipe sites shows how nurses will use complex search
when they understand the context.
Add a little human interest

Example: What kind of pets do all the personas have? What sport do they
play? What books are they reading?
90

91. Brainstorming with stories

Challenge yourself (or a group) to come up with lots of quick examples
of problems


Tie each one to a persona, so it‟s specific and concrete, rather than abstract
Go for quantity – don‟t spend a lot of time on each one.



Identify the problem
Write a story in a sentence or two to illustrate the problem
Then go through the list and brainstorm a new story

What one thing can you change to solve the problem?
91

92. Personas keep design work grounded

Bring personas to design
sessions

Use the personas to work
through design problems

Role play to explore
differences in how the
personas react to different
designs

Consider not just what
they would do, but their
preferences

93. Role play (or Informance)

Used to



Explore how a persona interacts with a product or each other
Extend a persona-led review into a broader focus
For exploring a feature or interaction



Use the same basic process as a persona-led review, but personas have
more scope to explore and tell stories.
One person can act as the moderator, asking questions and encouraging
interaction between the personas
Tips

Be careful to stay true to the research behind the personas

Don‟t guess – acknowledge gaps in your knowledge
93

94. Structure the story to help make your point clear
Some stories are a simple narrative
 Prescriptive structure
Framing structures create contrast
 Me - Them - Me
 Here - There - Here
 Now - Then - Now
Stories can explain a situation or set a
context
 Layered
 Contextual interlude
Journeys show obstacles overcome
 A hero‟s journey

95. Story structures: the frame
Framing structures create
contrast
 Me - Them - Me
 Here - There - Here
 Now - Then - Now
The opening frame
Sets the stage
Current situation
The comparison
Another frame of:
Time
Perspective
Place
Complete the frame
Resolves the contrast
95

96. Frame example
Opening Frame
Contrast Frame
Resolution
96
When Melissa needed a new window shade, she had a
mental picture of what she wanted. It had to roll up and
down, and needed to be 50 inches wide. So she searched
online…. One of the sites had customer reviews, so she
could see what others were saying about the models she
was considering.
When Melissa‟s mother needed a new window shade, she
too had a mental picture of what she wanted. She thought
about all the Manhattan stores she knew well ... Then she
picked up the phone and called a few of her friends and
asked them for suggestions. Her friends helped her narrow
down the list of stores she would visit to find just the right
shade.
Melissa found the shade that was the best match to her
mental picture and budget. And in the process, Melissa never
had to leave the comfort of her own home. Which is good
because living in her particular neck of Northern Vermont
means that Melissa‟s a little removed from malls.
Storytelling, page 225

97. Story structures: the journey
97

98. Journey example

Think of any story that involves technical support!
98

99. Your choice of medium
Words
Comics
Cartoons
Social media
Collage
Create a story of a future, better, trip that your
persona takes
99

100. Find them in the wild

101. Match participants to personas
They started life as a way to analyse data from the real world. Now make
sure that you can match the personas up with the people you meet in
user research and usability testing.

Use the personas to identify research participants

Find new stories to keep making the personas even richer

102. Recruit usability participants to persona demographics
Job/role
Education
Age
Goals
Web/technology use
102

103. Matching participant screening questions to persona
demographics
Question
Match to
personas?
What this indicates in
the personas
What is your job title?
Yes
Seniority and type of job
What industry do you work in?
No – recruit a mix
How many years have you been a
member?
Yes
How many professional conferences did
you attend in the past year?
Yes
Are you a member of any SIGs or
societies?
Yes
Are you active in your professional
organization
Yes
What country do you work in
No – recruit a mix
What is your age?
Yes
Relationship to organization
Indicators of depth and breadth
of relationship and activity in
professional development groups
Stage of career

104. Persona stories become evaluation tasks

They give you a broad range of
scenarios and perspectives to
draw on.

They make test tasks more
realistic, because they trace back
to user research.

Write them like brainstorming
stories, setting up the
situation, and then asking the
participant to “finish the story”
104

105. Participants can set their own tasks

Use the persona stories to write the beginning of a scenario and use it
to launch tasks, following the participant‟s own interests


Ask them to identify a situation similar to the one you want to test
(be ready with a scenario if they don‟t come up with one)

Use their story as the first task. Let them work in their own way.


Start with a brief interview to get to know them
(and try to identify the persona they best match)
Then, use your pre-written tasks, adjusting them to their situation
You have to

Know the site or material well, so you can think on your feet

Be aware of issues that differences in content can make

Decide in advance how you will analyze for “success”
105

106. Example from the OU
Opening Interview
Ask participant about their interest in university
study, subjects, goals. How far along in their search
are they?
Ask them what questions they want to know [know
|or| about any university they consider.
Self-directed Task
Choose one of their questions, and ask them to find
the answer about the OU. [ Start from blank screen
|or| OU home page.
Our Tasks
Use the following tasks, but adjust how it is stated, to
include their interests:
• What programs does the OU offer in [subject]?
• For someone [in their situation], what is the best
choice for their first course?
• What qualification might they work towards?
• How long will it take to earn that qualification?
106

107. Carol
Jacob
Lea
Emily
Maria
Steven
Vishnu
Bring the outside inside
Trevor

108. Create the stories you want other people to tell
What connections do you want to make?
108

109. Storytelling for User Experience
with Kevin Brooks
Global UX
with Daniel Szuc
A Web for Everyone
with Sarah Horton
http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/

110. Whitney Quesenbery
whitneyq@wqusability.com
www.wqusability.com
@whitneyq
Center for Civic Design
whitneyq@centerforcivicdesign
centerforcivicdesign.org
@ChadButterfly

111. Carol
Jacob
Lea
Emily
Steven
Vishnu
Accessible UX
Personas
Maria
Trevor

112. Personas can have a surprise ending
Maria
Emily
• Community health
worker
• Married with grown
children
• Smartphone is her
primary computer
• Graduated from high
school and working on a
college degree
• Lives in a loft with a group
of friends
• Works part-time at a local
community center

113. Maria
"I love this. It's all here...when I can find it."

Maria
• 49 years old
• Community college +
healthcare certificate
• Married, grown children
• Spanish – English
bilingual
• Community health worker
• Smartphone from her
phone service, home
computer primarily her
husband‟s, for his work




Ability: Prefers Spanish language sites.
Needs instructions written clearly
Aptitude: Adventurous, but not very
proficient
Attitude: Thinks it‟s wonderful to have her
favorite websites with her at all times
Assistive Technology: Skype, online
translation sites
The data picture:

17.8 million people in the US speak English
"less than well"

Latino adults are more likely to use moile
devices and search.

114. "The right technology lets me
do anything."

Jacob
• 32 years old
• College graduate, legal
training courses
• Shares an apartment with
a friend
• Paralegal, reviews cases
and writes case
summaries
• Laptop, braille
display, iPhone
Ability: Blind since birth

Aptitude: Skilled technology user

Attitude: Digital native, early adopter,

Assistive Technology: Screen
reader, audio note-taker, Braille display

The data picture:

People with visual disabilities make up
2.6% of the population.

In the US about 1.8 million people can't
easily see printed words

Only about 10% of peple who are blind read
Braille

115. Demographics
Goals
Info needs
Emotions
Usability needs
Name, role/tagline
Background story
Scenarios

116. Persona-Led Review Worksheet
Persona
Goal and Scenario
First reaction
Interaction/path
Outcome

117. Who
Who
are they?
are they?
Where
Where
are they going?
are they going?
What
What
might happen?
might happen?
Who
Who
are they?
are they?
Where
Where
are they going?
are they going?
What
What
might happen?
might happen?