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Wednesday,
October 3, 2001
Full-day Seminar, 8:30a.m.-5:30p.m.
Learn how generating a Persona can invigorate your design process
We were extremely excited when we read Alan Cooper's book, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. In the book, Alan talked about Goal-Directed ® Design, a robust methodology that he and his team of world-class interaction designers developed to make great design repeatable and efficient. We're even more excited that Kim Goodwin, Director of Design at Cooper, has put together a full-day course designed especially to give you an in-depth introduction to this unique methodology.
The seminar is:
• Primarily lecture. There are several interactive exercises and plenty of Q&A built in.
• Designed to introduce the methodology. You won't be an expert when you leave, but you'll have some tools you can use the very next day to understand user goals, create archetypal users, and translate your understanding into a conceptual solution.
• Not platform-specific. Whether you're designing applications, web sites, or interactive devices, this methodology is applicable (examples will draw from all three arenas).
• Aimed at a broad audience. People new to design won't be left behind; experts may find some material familiar, but should still find some valuable tools.
At the core of Cooper's methodology is the notion of a Persona. A Persona is a description of an archetypal user synthesized from a series of ethnographic interviews with real people. Each Persona has a set of goals that drive product design and strategy, from the original conception and feature list all the way to visual interface design.
Defining specific people and designing for them helps us avoid what we call the "elastic user." Anyone who has been involved in product development knows that "the user" is a vague, poorly-defined person who changes from day to day. One minute, an engineer says, "The user needs powerful macros and shortcuts," while the next minute, a marketing person says, "The user needs wizards and big, easy-to-read buttons." By using a Persona, we can say instead that, "Hugo is performing this task every day; this feature has to be easy to find, but a wizard will quickly become tedious."
Kim will cover the following aspects of the methodology:
• Why understanding users' tasks is not enough to create breakthrough design. Goals represent what people really want to accomplish; tasks are merely how they get there. Tasks tend to change when technology changes. By looking at goals, we can often get rid of unnecessary tasks altogether.
• Interviewing techniques designed to uncover goals. You'll learn why it's more important to follow up on what you see and hear than to stick to a set question list for the sake of consistency.
• We'll look into what makes a valid, effective Persona. What information is necessary? How do we determine goals? How many Personas do we need to design a product? How do we balance their needs? How do we create a "real" person without wasting time on extraneous detail? How do you figure out which ones you need for a great design?
• Kim will show you a process that helps bridge the chasm between understanding the requirements and getting to a design concept. You'll see how Personas narrow the gap and make that transition easier. You'll learn why relying on inspiration alone is a bad idea and how Persona-based scenarios can help you create and validate your solution.
• You'll learn about some key concepts used in creating design, such as application posture, mental models vs. implementation models, and putting primary interaction on the primary window. The class will not focus on detailed design issues such as screen layout or widget selection.
• We'll also practice some great design meeting tools for getting unstuck, generating ideas, and evaluating them. Kim will discuss the team structure at Cooper, and what roles people play in meetings. She'll describe useful brainstorming techniques (vs. not-so-useful ones). Cooper also has some break-out-of-the-box tools called "pretend it's human" and "pretend it's magic" — these are especially helpful when people are thinking in very conventional ways.
Register online or by calling 1-800-588-9855
Mon. Seminars || Tues. Talks || Wed. Seminars || Thurs. Talks
Speaker Bios || Pricing || Trip Planning || Online Registration
Copyright © 2001 User Interface Engineering
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