[IxDA Discuss] A question about Personas

[Todd Zaki Warfel]

On Aug 21, 2007, at 2:15 PM, Douglas Brashear wrote:

> Wow, nothing like meeting an off-putting person to get the juices  
> flowing. I should thread with Todd every morning and give up  
> caffeine once and for all.

Doug,

First of all, this list is for professionals and we try and treat  
each other with respect. So, please keep unprofessional character  
insults like "an off-putting person to get the juices flowing..." to  
yourself, or off the public list. Try and show some respect.


> Todd said: “And that's how it should be done.”
>
> Errr, ok. You know, you *can* update any documentation along the  
> way. In fact, I recommend it and do it myself. I just don’t call my  
> target audience analysis “personas”, as I don’t try to claim that a  
> document is or should be like a person. It’s a document. It doesn’t  
> feel, doesn’t perform an action and can’t give you feedback. Real  
> users do that. I prefer to ask them personally for the important  
> things.

I don't think I need to get into a discussion on the usefulness of  
artifacts (documents). As to preferring to speak to them personally,  
well, of course. I'm sure we all do. But the point of a persona isn't  
to record what you find, so much as it is to communicate it to the  
others on the team. It's a point of reference for when you're not  
around. Unless, of course your clients live with you night and day,  
listening to every conversation. I doubt that would be a good use of  
anyones time.

Personas, like many other artifacts, are a way to communicate  
synthesized information to an audience other than yourself. They're a  
way to keep everyone on the same page - even keep you, the designer,  
the researcher, on the mark.

Cheers!

Todd Zaki Warfel
President, Design Researcher
Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
----------------------------------
Contact Info
Voice:	(215) 825-7423
Email:	todd at messagefirst.com
AIM:	twarfel at mac.com
Blog:	http://toddwarfel.com
----------------------------------
In theory, theory and practice are the same.
In practice, they are not.