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 Quesenberywhitneyq@wqusability.comwww.wqusability.com@whitneyq

Center for Civic Designwhitneyq@centerforcivicdesigncenterforcivicdesign.org@ChadButterfly