[IxDA Discuss] Book Review: The User Is Always Right

[W Evans]

Chrsitina - I would love to have it republished to B&A. It was written to
the IxDA list - but I can do some edits (I make references to IxDA people),
and polish it a little and have it to you this evening. I like the quality
of the content of B&A, and want to the article to be up to snuff.

On 9/22/07, Christina Wodtke <cwodtke at eleganthack.com> wrote:
>
> Also see the interview with Steve on Boxes and Arrows, complete with
> excerpt
> http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/long-live-the-user
> and the review
>
> W Evans wrote:
> > The User Is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using
> Personas
> > for the Web<
> http://www.amazon.com/User-Always-Right-Practical-Creating/dp/0321434536>,
> > Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar.
> >
> > This comprehensive guide approaches user experience research like never
> > before, and is *well-written, easy-to-read*, and *quite user friendly*.
> It
> > provides real-world examples of how user research is done in just enough
> > detail that it can both inform an executive of the role of usability
> > research as well as introduce methodology for persona creation to
> someone
> > starting out in user experience design.* *
> >
> > *"**You are not the user." *
> >
> > As an interaction designer and information architect for the past 12
> years,
> > I have been most drawn towards books that go far beyond principles and
> > theory to ones I can actually extract from and use their contents for
> the
> > praxis of the craft, rather than just reading descriptions of a process.
> > This is a *great book* that is a blueprint to follow to get it right. It
> > defines the entire user research and persona creation process and offers
> > insightful case studies from successful companies that Mulder and Yaar
> > worked with like Vista Print.
> >
> > The use of personas has become an increasingly popular technique being
> used
> > by the interaction design community to address user needs. Introduced
> into
> > the mainstream in 1999 in *The Inmates Are Running The
> > Asylum<
> http://www.amazon.com/Inmates-Are-Running-Asylum-Products/dp/0672326140/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0082298-9929645?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1190468401&sr=1-1
> >
> > *, personas have gained momentum in both the software and website
> > designcommunities, but still faces hurdles.
> > What are the benefits of personas?
> >
> > A key aspect to any practitioner responsible for bringing real user
> centered
> > design to an organization's product design process, being able to
> evangelize
> > the importance of user research and persona creation is absolutely key.
> Many
> > IxDers <http://gamma.ixda.org/>on this list understand the importance of
> > persona creation, but lack the arguments to persuade management to both
> fund
> > user research and persona creation, and to incorporate real users into
> the
> > design process. This is where the book is particular important – selling
> > proper user research and persona creation to upper management
> constrained by
> > resources and deadlines. According to Mulder and Yaar, personas bring
> many
> > benefits, including these:
> >
> >    - Users' goals, behaviors and attitudes become a common point of
> focus
> >    for the team. (They keep repeating this mantra until I found myself
> chanting
> >    it in the shower)
> >    - The team can concentrate on designing for a manageable set of
> >    personas knowing that they represent the needs of many users.
> >    - By always asking, "Would Will use this?" the team can avoid the
> trap
> >    of building what users ask for rather than what they will actually
> use, or
> >    the problem which is far more pernicious – building features that a
> product
> >    champion thinks are important.
> >    - Design efforts can be prioritized based on the personas.
> >    - Disagreements over design decisions can be sorted out by referring
> >    back to the personas.
> >    - Designs can be constantly evaluated against the personas, getting
> >    better designs into usability testing.
> >
> > *What is a persona anyway??*
> >
> > We should all know this, but for new people on the list, a persona is a
> > fictional person that the team creates to reflect what is know about one
> of
> > the key audience groups (sometimes that knowledge is gained from
> interviews,
> > focus groups, or surveys). Typically, a team creates two or more
> personas to
> > represent different user segments, while identifying a few key
> archetypes as
> > the primary personas.*
> >
> > *Helpful persona profiles include demographic information, levels of
> > computer expertise, descriptions of the personas' needs for the
> particular
> > site in development, and the goals and tasks they would have in mind
> when
> > using the site.
> >
> > The User Is Always
> > Right<
> http://www.amazon.com/User-Always-Right-Practical-Creating/dp/0321434536
> >takes
> > you through each step of persona creation, including tips for
> > conducting qualitative user research, new ways to apply quantitative
> > research (such as surveys) to persona creation, various methods for
> > generating persona segmentation, and proven techniques for making
> personas
> > realistic. You'll also learn how to use personas effectively, from
> directing
> > overall business strategy and prioritizing features and content to
> making
> > detailed decisions about information architecture, content, and design.
> > What characteristics are included in a persona?
> >
> > Some of the information Mulder and Yaar say a persona usually includes:
> >
> >    - a name and picture
> >    - demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family status)
> >    - job title and major responsibilities
> >    - goals and tasks in relation to your product/web site/application
> >    - environment (physical, social, technological)
> >    - a quote that sums up what matters most to the persona with
> relevance
> >    for your site
> >    - A narrative that brings the persona to life
> >
> > The User Is Always
> > Right<
> http://www.amazon.com/User-Always-Right-Practical-Creating/dp/0321434536
> >is
> > an entertaining and clearly written book that is also filled with
> > great
> > insight into the process, both qualitative, and quantitative, of
> creating
> > user personas based on real research and how that can help interaction
> > designers, product designers, and other user experience professionals
> make
> > more usable and useful software. There are also extensive samples and
> > examples throughout the book of real personas, actual user research
> data,
> > and analysis spreadsheets. These give a very clear idea of how the
> > recommended approaches work in practice.
> >
> > For the first time (as far as I'm aware), this brings together two very
> > different approaches: qualitative research based on interviews and
> > observation; and quantitative research based on surveys and usage data.
> The
> > authors' overall methodology provides real answers on when to use field
> > research, when to conduct surveys, and how to combine the two sets of
> > results. The end product are personas that have much greater rigueur and
> > impact.
> >
> > *What's in the book:*
> >
> > *Part 1: Introducing Personas*
> > Chapter 1. Putting the User Back in User-Centered Design
> > Chapter 2. Meet the Personas
> > *Part 2: Creating Personas*
> > Chapter 3. Approaches to Creating Personas
> > Chapter 4. Conducting Qualitative User Research
> > Chapter 5. Conducting Quantitative User Research
> > Chapter 6. Generating Persona Segmentation
> > Chapter 7. Making Personas Real
> > *Part 3: Using Personas*
> > Chapter 8. Keeping Personas Alive
> > Chapter 9. Directing Business Strategy
> > Chapter 10. Scoping Features and Functionality
> > Chapter 11. Guiding Structure, Content, and Design
> > Chapter 12. Measuring Success
> >
> > In summary, this is a must-have book for people on the IxDA
> > <http://gamma.ixda.org/>list tackling the design of complex sites,
> > applications or devices, or for user-centered designers seeking more
> > rigorous methodologies when creating personas. I cannot recommend this
> book
> > too highly. Once you have finished this book; have a little user
> research
> > and persona creation under your belt – you are ready for Mike
> Kunievsky's
> > brilliant tomb: Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to
> > User Research<
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558609237/qid=1153247574/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
> >.
> > I will write a book review of this in the coming months for the
> > IxDA<http://gamma.ixda.org/>,
> > so that while we all focus on going out and actually working our craft,
> we
> > do so in the context of, as Dave Malouf says, our Community of Practice.
> >
> > *About the authors:*
> >
> > *Steve Mulder* is principal consultant at Molecular, an Internet
> consulting
> > firm in Boston, and an internationally known speaker recognized for his
> work
> > with personas. He's a user experience expert who practices what he
> preaches,
> > with over ten years of experience in user research, information
> > architecture, interaction design, and usability. Learn more at
> > MulderMedia.com <http://www.muldermedia.com/>.
> >
> > *Ziv Yaar* is the vice president of Internet strategy at Molecular,
> where he
> > has spent over ten years helping companies develop technology and
> business
> > strategies and has been at the forefront of merging the power of
> marketing
> > analytics with personas.
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Christina Wodtke
> Principal Instigator
> 415-577-2550
>
>
> Business :: http://www.cucinamedia.com
> Magazine :: http://www.boxesandarrows.com
> Product :: http://www.publicsquarehq.com
> Personal :: http://www.eleganthack.com
> Book :: http://www.blueprintsfortheweb.com
>
> cwodtke at eleganthack.com
>
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-- 
~ we

-------------------------------------
n:     will evans
t:      user experience architect
e:     wkevans4 at gmail.com

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