1CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Dario Salvucci, Drexel University. Lecture 3: Personas

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 User Modeling User Modeling is the second phase of design. Research users & the domain Modeling users & use contexts Requirements user, business, & technical needs Framework structure & flow Refinement of behavior, form, context

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 What is User Modeling? Development of Personas A Persona is much like a Simulated User – User characteristics: height, weight, gender – User behavior: threshold of patience – User lifestyle: busy or bored? – User background: could be significant! Essentially a “sim” from the popular Maxis game, “The Sims” A Persona is a user archetype.

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Personas One system won’t make everyone happy Alesandro’s goals – Go fast – Have fun Marge’s goals – Be safe – Be comfortable Dale’s goals – Haul big loads – Be reliable ???

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Personas How do we develop personas? Research. – user interviews – subject-matter experts – market research surveys – etc. End production: Each persona represents a class of users in context – persona is not an “average person”, but an exemplar or “canonical person” with an associated range of behaviors

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Why do User Modeling? Represent characteristics of our users. Help identify end user behavioral patterns: – Social and physical environment – Relationships with one another Assist in the creation of Requirements Definitions, phase 3 of the design: – Need to know what constraints are placed upon the system. – Need to know what area of functionality to emphasize. Users: individuals with specific needs.

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Developing Personas Well developed personas: – Determine how product behaves. – Communicate in a marketing aspect. – Build consensus to the design: A common language creates a common understanding! – Measure Design effectiveness: Is the product too focussed on a small percentage of its expected users? Are we designing and optimizing for intermediates? Are we giving our product a “reality check”?

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Persona Definition Proper definition avoids: – The Elastic User “The User is what we think they are!” – Self-Referential Design “The User must be like me, the programmer!” – Designing too many Edge Cases “I'm sure the User will always want to do this!”

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Personas are not People! Personas do not reflect one specific user. Personas are only represented this way! – Synthesis of Design Research Persona creation must involve care! Personas have to have sufficient detail: – OK: “John organizes evertyhing alphabetically.” – Too general: “John is very neat.” – Too specific: “John is a librarian at the fourth street library and works every day to 7pm.” Composite archetype: Usage Patterns and User roles

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Persona Definition Personas must: – Exhibit a range of behavior. – Must have motivations for use. Avoid Stereotyping: – User stereotyping doesn't reflect research – Usage of Ethnographic Research is the key. – Fictional detail is frosting on the cake. Personas are modeling end users, not: – Stakeholders – Customers – Subject Matter Experts

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Persona Goals Goals drive behaviors, and create tasks. Goals are constructed from qualitative data – You can not ask the user what their goal is! Goals are best defined in a top-down approach. – First: Make a general one sentence. “Melissa produces a class schedule.” – Second: Make sub-goals “Melissa is in CS338” “Melissa is free on Thursday night.” “Melissa can graduate in 2 years.”

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Expanding Goal Definition Life Goals: – Beyond the context of the product. – Long term motivations and driving force Experience Goals: – Personal goals – Unconcious goals, not always at hand End Goals: – Specific outcome of using product. – What does the user want to accomplish? Its important to combine Experience and End goals properly!

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Non-User Goals – Business goal of the customer company. – Business goal of the employee company. – Customers who want happy users. – Technical goals Don't let these trump the User-Goals. Always put user goals first! Successful products always do this.

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Constructing a Persona Personas can be developed in a set of steps. 1. Develop User Roles – Ex. “Student”, “Custodian”, or “Software Engineer” 2. Develop Behavioral Variables as Scales – Ex. “Necessity to Entertainment” (1 to 10) – Ex. “Underloaded to Overworked” (1 to 10) 3. Map data to the Scales – Be representative of each role! 4. Clusters form a “potential” persona.

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Constructing Personas (cont) 5. Assign characteristics and goals to the candidates to make a “Persona”. – “Day in the Life” – What is this potential persona attempting to accomplish? – Give them a name. First and Last! 6. Define relationships of the Personas – Do they work together? – How do they like or hate one another? 7. Write simple one sentence goals. 8. Add a small narrative on at the end.

CS 338: Graphical User Interfaces. Michael Czajkowski, Drexel University.1 Class Exercise User Modeling for the Prexel U. Web Site. – Prexel University students, faculty, and staff have a very underused and disliked web site. Setup: – Get into groups of 4-5 people each. – You will be given a data packet of research – You will be given a persona packet to fill out. This will take about minutes to complete. At the end, we will make a CS Class User Model!