Storytelling in Design

Chapter 6. Using Character Development in Product Design

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Using Character Development in Product Design

Reluctance to Use Personas

Over my years working as a UX designer, I’ve seen a reluctance to create user personas, and more specifically, detailed personas. I’ve met this reluctance in the teams and companies where I’ve worked, with people that I’ve mentored and coached, and have come across it in articles and in social media posts. Many of you who read this book will probably be skeptical of personas, too. Part of this skepticism comes down to how they’re used, or rather not used, on projects, but part of it is also due to a common belief that the team knows who their audience is, so there is no need to articulate it. There are better and more important things to get on with, like an actual solution or creative idea.

I write this with no judgment because I get it. Sometimes the audience feels so obvious that the need to spend time on personas is lower, all things considered, than “doing the actual work.” However, doing the actual work is dependent on knowing who that work is for and why. Freelance UX researcher Meg Dickey-Kurdziolek writes, “Being a user-centered designer means that you deliberately seek out the stories, data, and rationale behind your users’ motivations.”1 Many organizations believe that they have a good understanding of their users and customers, there are some big surprises usually arise when you do more detailed research into who they actually are ...