User personas are essentially fictional users that represent real individuals. They are used by designers as a reference to assist in validating their work. In other words, it helps you design with a clear user in mind, guiding a design to meet the goals of a user. When designing an interactive, as designers, we should be asking questions about our users. These questions include:
- What tasks do we want the user to perform?
- Are there different tasks for different personas?
- What devices will the user use?
- Is the user browsing?
- Is the user after a specific thing?
It gives designers an insight into the behavioural patterns, goals, skills, attitudes and environment of potential users/consumers. In many cases, personas are collected from data from interviews and/or surveys, which are then transferred onto a report. Data collected includes:
- Age
- Sex
- Location
- Occupation
- Hobbies
- Likes/Dislikes
- Other details that are related to the project
JustInMind. (2019). 15 must-see user persona templates. [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.justinmind.com/blog/user-persona-templates/
Waterson, Sarah. (2019). Personas. 102265 Graphic Design: Introduction to Interactive Design. [Video File].
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