Definition: Personas

January 21, February 18 and March 17, 2008.

Personas: A Tool For Developing User-Centered Products
Training Details

Personas (also known as archetypes) are tangible models of the users for which the product is being designed. They are illustrated by fictional characters, which provide a user-profile that outlines the user’s motivations, capabilities, and attitudes.

The use of Personas in interface design is becoming more widespread. It addresses the following objectives:

• Defining the functional elements that respond best to users' needs and capabilities.
• Developing a design based on a variety of realistic and targeted “user scenarios”, which enables users to achieve goals with greater success.
• Recruiting participants who are representative of the targeted user in order to test the mock-up or prototype that has been developed.

For more information concerning Personas, please refer to this article which was issued by the company of usability pioneer Alan Cooper, who introduced the concept of Personas in 1999.