380 likes | 401 Views
Learn the importance of user research, data sources, and creating provisional personas for website redesign projects. Includes practical tips and questions for building user personas.
E N D
The Way You Hear It IsThe Way You Sing It:Early User Researchand Provisional Personas Brian Smith Reaching Across Illinois Library SystemILEAD USA – Illinois – March 2015
Who am I? • Librarian • Website builder for RAILS • Work mostly with Drupal CMS • Busy planning a big site redesign • Created first website in the mid-1990s • Public library board member
Who are you? • Team FLOP • Team Make It Count • Team Makestravaganza • Team Pop-Up Kits • Team Spectra • Technology Teamsters
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clonard_RC_Church_St_Finian_06_Detail_2007_08_26.jpg CC:by-sa
we are doing this project for the users
WRAP Model for Decision Making • Widen your options • Reality-test your assumptions • Attain distance before deciding • Prepare to be wrong User researchcan contributeto these steps.
Demographic & Comparative Data • factfinder.census.gov • illinoisreportcard.com • ibhe.org/Data Bank • IPLAR – contact rjones1@ilsos.net • imls.gov/research
More Library User Data Local: • Website use statistics • ILS data • Strategic plan research National: • pewinternet.org/topics/libraries
Talk With People! Ask Questions! • Community Representatives • Network outwards from your CRs • Library users • Organizations that serve the same audience • Colleagues at other libraries • IHLS & RAILS mailing lists, RAILS Fast Facts survey • Team members (tricky …)
Some Things to (Maybe) Ask About • How do you usually do [something relevant to project]? • Tell us about an experience you had doing that. • What did you like? Problems encountered? • Did you get what you wanted? What was missing? • What device(s) do you use? • What are some of your favorite websites and apps? • Do you use Facebook/Twitter/etc.? Are you on any discussion boards or Listservs? Tell us what you do on them. • We’re thinking X … What should be part of it to make it useful to you?
Team FATE (ILEAD USA 2014) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAMzH6E8VWk
User Personas Are: • Tools that can be used to focus development • Hypothetical individuals who are members of major groups of users • Fictional, but true-to-life, realistic individuals • Based on research • Summaries of the users’ traits and behaviors • Concise; built on a common template
A User Persona Is Not: • An “average” user • An “ideal” user • A universal representation of everyone • What you want your users to be like • A description of how you want your project’s/product to be used • A complete biography of the fictional user • You
What’s In A Persona Profile? Depends on project, typical content includes: • Name • Picture • User group represented • Personal information (age, job, etc.) • Technology use and habits • Motivation – needs and goals related to your project • “Money quote”
Start With Provisional Personas Early provisional personas can be especially useful to make sure that all team members are on the same page.
Questions to Help Build Persona • Identification: Age, gender, education, job? • What’s this person’s story? • Devices and software used? • General online habits? • What info/services does person need regarding your (prospective) content? • Current sources person goes to for that stuff? • Why would this person go to your site/resource? • How would this person find your site/resource?
Two Parts! • User Research • Create Provisional Personas But first … Forget about your project for now. Think about you library catalog.
1. User Research • Don’t use the persona sheets yet! • Envision a couple types of library catalog user that you’ve helped (or that you are) • For each type of user:- Some people at table ask questions- Others at table answer as that user • Take notes!!!
Sample User Questions • What devices do you use? (Computer, tablet, phone) • What are some of your favorite websites and apps? What do you like about them? • Tell us about some things you’ve used the library catalog for. • Tell us about some problems you’ve encountered with the catalog. • Where else do you go to find things online? • What kind of books, movies, music and games do you like? • What sites, services, and stores do you go to, to get or use video, music, books and other stuff? • What else do you do at the library? • Add your own user questions!
2. Create Provisional Personas For each persona: • Make up the person’s name • Write down the name and user group • Choose an appropriate face sticker for the user, or draw in your own • Use information gathered in the user research stage to complete the persona sheet
Questions to Help Build Persona • Identification: Age, gender, education, job? • What’s this person’s story? • Devices and software used? • General online habits? • What info/services does person need regarding your (prospective) content? • Current sources used for that stuff? • Why would this person go to you? • How would this person find you?
Additional Resources • usability.gov • smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/06/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-1 • smashingmagazine.com/2014/08/13/a-closer-look-at-personas-part-2 • measuringu.com/blog/personas-ux.php • google.com/search?q=library+personas • Just Enough Research - $9.00 ebookfrom abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research
Thank you! brian.smith@railslibraries.info