Itqualityassurance
User personas can be valuable tools for design teams to better understand the users they are solving problems for, but many examples are falling short. Common persona templates reinforce stereotypes and give little incentive for deeper understanding.
- Are personas really useful?
- Are user personas outdated?
- What is the point of personas?
- What are limitations of personas?
Are personas really useful?
Personas help designers to create understanding and empathy with the end-users. Thanks to personas designers can: Gain a perspective similar to the user. Creating user personas can help designers step out of themselves and recognize that different people have different needs and expectations.
Are user personas outdated?
Personas are antiquated… this coming from someone who has relied on and written about them for years. For years at 3.7 Designs, we've created personas during the design discovery phase. I recently realized that the traditional marketing persona is no longer a relevant practice.
What is the point of personas?
The purpose of personas is to create reliable and realistic representations of your key audience segments for reference. These representations should be based on qualitative and some quantitative user research and web analytics.
What are limitations of personas?
Even the most well-researched personas have limitations
Another major problem is: Manufactured personas often fall flat, coming across as abstract or one-dimensional. In this case, they don't seem like real people, and it is hard for employees and customers to really relate to or empathize with them.
