{"id":5048,"date":"2020-01-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/uncategorized\/persona-spectrums\/"},"modified":"2023-05-24T12:35:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T10:35:46","slug":"persona-spectrums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/persona-spectrums\/","title":{"rendered":"User Persona Spectrums: What They Are and How to Use Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you\u2019re new or experienced in UX design, chances are you\u2019ve at least heard of user personas<\/a>. User personas are a frequently used tool in the world of UX design, and with a growing industry-wide focus on inclusive design<\/a>, they\u2019re evolving to help UX professionals discover and solve design problems more effectively\u2014and more inclusively\u2014than ever.<\/p>\n

Persona spectrums. These are a relatively new addition to the design world, developed by Kat Holmes<\/a> for Microsoft Design. They\u2019re an incredibly promising tool to help designers take a fresh perspective while they identify user needs. This guide will cover the benefits and pitfalls of user personas and the basics of persona spectrums, as well as how they might be applied more broadly to your design practice.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we\u2019ll cover:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What is a user persona?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Benefits and pitfalls of user personas<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Enter persona spectrums<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Extending persona spectrums beyond accessibility<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. A final word: Design \u2018with\u2019, not \u2018for\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. What is a user persona?<\/h2>\n

    A user persona is a short profile of a user or customer<\/a>; it takes user data and market research, creating a concise combination of real or plausible customer details. A user persona often includes demographics, needs and desires, pain points, and quotes.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s an example of a user persona created for a hypothetical project. Not every persona will look like this, but these elements are common to see in user personas.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Here we have a fictional name and photo, relevant demographic information, user needs and goals, motivations, activities, and pain points. The only truly fictional information should be the name and the picture or illustration. Even the demographic details should be drawn from real user data (customers you already serve) or market research (customers you would like to reach). The key is to include details that are both relevant to the product and useful in helping designers remember the real needs and motivations of the people they\u2019re designing for.<\/p>\n

    2. Benefits and pitfalls of user personas<\/h2>\n

    User personas are an excellent way to discover and discuss design solutions that meet real user needs. Personas can help keep your users at the forefront of every design decision, and they can be particularly helpful in securing buy-in from key stakeholders by putting a face and a name to the needs and pain points your design solutions will address.<\/p>\n

    There is some argument against user personas (and in favor of Jobs-To-Be-Done<\/a>), mostly arising from a concern that personas are too fictional and based on assumptions rather than real data. There is also some risk of personas leading teams to design for a \u201cnormal\u201d\u00a0 or \u201caverage\u201d user\u2014which leads all too easily to the exclusion of users who don\u2019t fall into the statistical or assumed majority (the widest part of the bell curve).<\/p>\n

    To address these particular pitfalls, you can take steps to ensure that you\u2019re gathering accurate and abundant user data and market research, and implementing that data as comprehensively as possible in your personas. You can also educate others in your company about why user personas are helpful, how you created them, what data they\u2019re based on, and how they are best understood and used. You can also make sure that there is some balance and diversity across your personas. If your personas look like you or if they are all too similar, it might be time to diversify. Here are a few questions to guide you in this:<\/p>\n