subject: Role Of Personas In Web Site Design [print this page] When developing a new web site or redesigning a current web site, personas can play a key role in the decision making. A persona is a representation of a web site's intended user. These are also known as; user profiles, user definitions and audience profiles.
Personas should describe a web site's target users and help give a picture of those who will most likely use the site. They are used to help design teams capture information relevant to the users' needs, goals, scenarios and tasks.
Personas can be developed with varying degrees of detail, but they should have a couple of things in common. They should express what users need and what they expect.
Creating Personas
Generally, there are three layers of detail in creating personas.
Layer 1: Minimum Information
Name
Personas are a summary representation of people. Since people have names then personas should have names. This detail helps designers remember they are designing a web site that real people will be using.
Motivations and Needs
Motivations are expressed as what a user wants to get out of interacting with the web site or the organization. The designer needs to put themselves in the position of the user.
Each persona must express the users' needs. The level of detail that is required is the amount that is needed for the designer to understand why the user is on the web site.
Scenarios
Scenarios are realistic scenes that set the stage for an interaction between the web site and a user. They allow project designers to picture the use of the web site by the end user.
One part of the scenario should include how people use the information they get off the web site.
Layer 2: More Details
Adding more detailed information will solidify the relationship between the end user and the web site.
Behaviors
What does the end user need to do to make use of or find particular content or functionality? What decisions are they asked to make?
Quotes:
Use quotes to add a personal touch. This will help make the persona appear to be more real.
Layer 3: Personas as real people
Include demographic information. This will help describe the behaviors of a specific person who represents a group of needs and goals.
Technology comfort level can play a role. Some people are not comfortable getting or giving information online. How does this impact design?
A photograph of an individual can help decision makers think about the end users as individuals instead of as an anonymous mass.
Personas should be developed at the beginning of the project. Personas help capture user needs and create a framework for making decisions about design. If you are a web designer, you can create personas with a series of questions to help illustrate to the stakeholders the information you require to make the best design decisions.
