4/21/2021 0 Comments Revelations Persona Windows
Every decision we make either raises or lowers barriers to participation in society.Article written with Doug Kim In 1983, Alan Cooper gave life to the first design persona with a wave of his hands.A pioneering software developer, Cooper had just interviewed a group of potential customers.He realized that focusing on real customer motivations rather than his own needs could spark better solutions to complicated problems.
For the rest of his design critique, Cooper began assuming the gestures, speaking habits, and thought processes of made-up individuals who were loosely based on the people hed interviewed. Personas quickly took off in both design curriculum and the software industry. The consequence of the artificial average In the 1950s, the US Air Force conducted a famous study on pilot size. They measured the physical dimensions of more than 4,000 pilots and calculated the average size along 140 dimensions, like height and chest circumference. They arrived at an average range for all 140 dimensions and theorized that most pilots would fit within that range. As it turns out, not a single pilot of all 4,000 fit within the average range for all 10 dimensions. The consequences of designing for the average pilot were potentially deadly. The ergonomics of planes, which were built based on average pilot size, were so off that pilots were crashing as a result. The planes were created for everyone but really no one at all. The dilemma with designing on assumptions We repeat the same error every day in product development. We give him attributes, like a family, a high-powered job, a suburban house, and two cars (see main image). Can you really imagine that Ted would be ok with that product decision From what I understand about Teds profile, I dont think so. And really, no one knows what Ted would like because Ted doesnt exist. But its challenging, because the more human we try to make Ted by adding specific personality traits and details about his habits, the more we unconsciously stereotype him. We make it harder on ourselves in the heat of the moment to remember that Ted is an abstract representation of research insights. Even worse, every bit of overly specific detail we attribute to Ted makes him less representative of the general audience we want to design for. In such design work, the person who doesnt exist can begin to erode and erase the presence of people who actually do. Often, Teds are: created in siloes without a defined goal or purpose, kept static across time and use cases, not flexible and adaptable, and, grounded in artifacts product teamsdesigners cant use. As we move toward building intelligent, responsive systems, we need new tools that further embrace diversity and respect multiple contexts and capabilities. Persona spectrums: a motivation, not a character We need tools that reintroduce diversity into our design process.
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