Persona StoriesWeaving together quant & qual for a richer picture
Whitney Quesenbery
WQusability and Center for Civic Design
Twitter @whitneyq
Hi!
User research, usability, accessibility Former theatre designer Storytelling as a way to understand users,
culture, and context in UX design Passionate about civic design New book on accessible UX
How about you?
Couriemail.com.au
Stories connect us
Personas & stories communicate patterns
Stories... Store and transmit
knowledge Communicate culture Explore new ideas
They help us… Share information in
memorable form Understand emotion and
desires
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Too often, quantitative data looks like this...
And even when it looks like this...
Or this, it still needs a storyteller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
Stories let us fill in the gaps
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html
Stories create relationships
Who is telling the story? Who is the audience
for the story?
What do they share?
What do they share?
A story is shared by everyone who hears it
Stories are building blocks
Kindersandi.moonfruit.com
Explain patterns of use
Communicate context (and emotion)
Ten minutes is not enough. That's Tanner’s opinion about the time limits on using the computer at school.
Last Friday, he started working on a geography assignment and look up some information about the animals in Africa. He had just gotten started when his turn on the computer was up. He’d like to work on it over the weekend, but can’t access the school library. He prints out a few things, and figures he will retype what he’s done when he gets home.
What a bore.
Show action over time
Narrative weaves the user journey into the structure of a site.
Fill in details and scenarios
Rachel, Enthusiastic dreamer28, finished one year at uni, works in an office Lives in North London with a partner Hasn’t settled down to a plan for her lifeInterested in Social Sciences
FIRST CONTACT WITH THE OU: OU ON TVInsomnia led Rachel to the OU, watching programs on the telly. She starts to enjoy the programmes and thinks about doing something to improve her career. It takes her a long time to act on this idea, but she visits an Open Day.
She spends ages thinking about it, sometimes browsing the web site, but also reading the brochures she has taken from the Open Day.
On her third trip to an Open Day, she finally registers for an Openings course that’s about to begin.
Stories can explore unexpected data
Gina gave us the first clue. She was a nurse manager for the county health system. “I’m on the move all day and I have a huge case load. Patients are always throwing new questions at me. Yesterday, I really struggled to sort out a problem one patient was having with side effects.
I speak a little Spanish, but just couldn’t remember the correct medical term to explain a new adjuvant the doctor wanted to try. It was so frustrating.”
She pointed at the sketch. “I don’t have a phone that will do all that...yet, but... if it’s really that ... simple…”
A lens into the data
What is the impact of search on the user experience?
Search and traffic analysis The top searches are persistent (and have continued over time
With some seasonal variations
The search logs shows a classic “long tail”eggsonionscabbagevinegarpotatosalmon
We had personas
George Martin Margaret
Jason Abila Rachel
We* can use the personas as a lens into the data
* by “we” I mean Viki Stirling and Sarah Allen the maestros of the analytics
Consolidating knowledge
Julia’s Journal – JuliaAshtonSayers.blogspot.com
Personas explore tensions in the design space
The personas show the faces of the journey
We mapped quantitative data to the persona
Demographics Journey Market segments Task analysis Skills Usability needs Other sites used
And showed data snapshots to reinforce knowledge
Revealing dreamsTomorrow and Tomorrow
Personas can embody data
Emily• Graduated from high
school and working on a college degree
• Lives in a loft with a group of friends
• Works part-time at a local community center
Maria• Community health
worker in her Latino community
• Married with grown children
• Smartphone is her primary computer
Lea• Masters degree• Writer/editor for a
trade publication• Works from home• Windows desktop
Maria
Maria
"I love this. It's all here...when
I can find it."
Ability: Prefers Spanish language sites, when she can find them; needs information and instructions written clearly
Aptitude: Adventurous, but not very proficient; husband and daughter set up bookmarks for her
Attitude: Thinks it’s wonderful to be able to have her favorite websites with her at all times
Assistive Technology: Skype, online translation sites
The data picture: 17.8 million people in the US speak English
"less than well" Latino aduls are more likely to use moile
devices and search.
• 49 years old• Community college +
healthcare certificate• Married, grown
children• Spanish – English
bilingual• Community health
worker• Smartphone from her
phone service, home computer primarily her husband’s, for his work
Lea
Lea
"No one gets that this really is
a disability."
Ability: Fatigue from fibromyalgia, trackball, and special keyboard
Aptitude: Average user Attitude: Wishes people would understand
how hard it can be for her to make it through the day
Assistive Technology: Split keyboard, power keyboard user, Dragon Naturally Speaking
The data picture: 5 million people in the US have
fibormyalgia, 80-90% are women People with this and related diseases
have increased sensitivity to pain
• 35 years old• Masters degree• Writes for a trade
publication; works from home
Emily
Emily
"I want to do everything for myself"
Ability: Cerebral palsy. Difficult to use hands and has some difficulty speaking clearly; uses a motorized wheel chair
Aptitude: Uses the computer well, with the right input device; good at finding efficient search terms
Attitude: Wants to do everything for herself; can be impatient
Assistive Technology: Communicator (AAC) with speech generator, iPad, power wheelchair
The data picture: 800,000 children and adult in the U.S. have one
of the forms of CP. Among all U.S. working age (18–64) people
with disabilities, only 21% are employed full- or part-time.
• 24 years old• Graduated from high
school and working on a college degree
• Lives in a small independent living facility
• Works part-time at a local community center
Carol
Jacob
Lea Emily
Steven
Maria Trevor
Vishnu
Accessible UX Personas
How will you tell the story?
Mary and Leonard Trujillo – The Mudhead Gallery
Stories are efficient
Tanner was deep into a Skatepunkz game—all the way up to level 12—when he got a buddy message from his friend, Steve, with a question about his homework.
He looked up with a start. Almost bedtime and his homework was still not done. Mom or Dad would be in any minute.
Each voice is a perspective
Third Person Second Person First Person
Story is told about someone, looking at them from the outside
Story is a conversation between the storyteller and another person
Story is told from the point of view of the main character
For example:A UX person telling stories about how several different people responded to a prototype.
Persona stories, especially if there is more than one
For example: Feedback to a participant or other stakeholder,
“Interviewing a persona”
Talking directly to users of a product
For example: A UX person telling the story of their own reactions.
Retelling a story from the point of view of the original experience.
Maintains a distance between “us” and “them”
Creates a direct connection and invites the other person to respond.
Invites the audience to look at the story through the eyes of
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3rd person allows you to explain and interpret
Whose words and thoughts are these?
Are these things that Mary would say or are they our interpretation of all the data and stories that went into the Mary persona?
How can we show when we are using her own words?
Does this story invoke research authority- a “realist tale”?
Mary works as a nurse in a hectic women’s health center for a low-income neighborhood. …Her questions about cancer mostly come from her patients, or from wanting to be sure that she catches any early signs.…She has learned conversational Spanish, so she can talk to her patients for whom this is a first language. …When she looks things up on the Web, she tends to go back to familiar sites
John van Mannen – Tales from the Field
2nd person creates conversation
How can you show the conversation?
Interviews maintain a separation
Conversations can also happen between two personas
Persona by Caroline Jarrett for the Open University
1st person invites identity
You represent the persona and tell the story from their point of view.
Lets you “get into the head” of the story (an “impressionist tale”)
OR
First person can tell your story of your experience with the person (a “confessional tale”)
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Stories are not a detailed task analysis
Focus on the story Establish the scene with imagery What’s the time-frame? What’s the emotional context
Think about the persona’s perspective How do they see the events or interaction? What words do they use? Style of language? What are the boundaries of the story from their point of
view? (Hint: it might not be your product!)
Don’t use the story to describe the user
Use (relevant) details to compare and contrast
Include details outside of their interaction with your product, but connect them to behavior that is relevant. Example: How central to their lives is this activity?
Think about counter-intuitive details Example: The youngest persona may not be the most
technology savvy or have the most advanced mobile technology.
Show interactions with other products, organizations, or activities Example: Using recipe sites shows how nurses will use
complex search when they understand the context. Add a little human interest
Example: What kind of pets do all the personas have? What sport do play? What books are they reading?
Personas and their stories give us...A richer understanding of context
Innovation from real needs
More persuasive ideas
People in the center of the process
Coral reef in Ras Muhamad Nature Park
Screen: Globalgiving.comFor more::http://succeedwithsuccessstories.com/dr-spocks-guide-to-improving-your-charitable-appeals/
Stories create empathy
Stories change how we think
Our experience of
the world is shaped
by our
interpretations of it,
the stories we tell
ourselves.... so the
key to personal
transformation is
story
transformation.
- Timothy Wilson, RedirectScreen from Tripit
Personas (and stories) travel thru the UX journey
Specify
Understand
Design
Evaluate
Gather information - both qualitative and quantitative – about the audience
Create personas that reflect the breadth and depth of the audience
Use the personas to explore current problems and new design ideas
Personas can be a vehicle for evaluation, or a check on usability test participants
A story is successful when it gets repeated
Based on real data
The stories you want told
Generate insights and empathy
& that lead to action!
Storytelling for User Experiencewith Kevin Brooks
Global UXwith Daniel Szuc
A Web for Everyonewith Sarah Horton
http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/a-web-for-everyone/
Whitney [email protected]@whitneyq
Center for Civic [email protected]@ChadButterfly