Everything around us has a personality, at least that's the way people perceive things around them. The moment we see other people or animals for the first time we will automatically attribute personality traits to them. But we also attribute personality traits to products around us. We can see a car and find it friendly, funny and provocative or think of it as serious and caring. The same goes for every product you can imagine, ranging from washers to websites. And even though product designers have been aware of this fact for a long time (and designed the products accordingly), web designers haven't thought about it. On the web we've been looking so much at making things usable that we've forget to design a personality into our products. And it's exactly that personality that will make websites engage with it's users on the right level. So in this talk I would like to explain what product personality is all about, where it comes from, how it helps design better products (and experiences) and especially how UX designers can design for it.

1. - Jeroen van Geel -
THE CHILDISH WASHER
& THE HAPPY WEBSITE
The power of product personality

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6. BUT THERE
IS A PROBLEM
And it’s mainly our fault!

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13. Design patterns
Storytelling
Information architecture
Personality Usability
Wireframes
Outlines
Meaning

14. Why product personality?
USERS
· Users automatically
attribute human
behavior to
everything around
them;
· Products with the
right personality
attributes to the
self-image.

15. Personality facts
· People prefer like-minded personalities;
· Undiluted personalities are preferred over
complicated ones;
· Flaws add to the believability
of a personality;
· We judge in the first moment

16. Personality facts
Linus!
Max!
People prefer like-minded personalities

17. Why product personality?
USERS DESIGNERS BUSINESS
· Users automatically · We are forced to · It can make a
attribute human think beyond commodity stand
behavior to function; out;
everything around
them;
· We can approach · It makes it possible
the product as if it for users to start a
· Products with the would interact with relationship with
right personality us, which helps to the product and
attributes to the design the details. brand.
self-image.

18. WELCOME
BRANDING
We need you in our life
Johnny loves you!

19. Risk-taking, competitive, irreverent, overwhelmingly
UXconsumed by sport, professional
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23. Brand personality
Product
personality
Product
personality
Product
personality
Product
personality
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24. COME ON,
WE WANT
EXAMPLES
Or we’ll fall asleep

25. Formal, authoritative, traditional, old fashioned
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26. Formal, authoritative, personal & guiding
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27. Personal, confident, fun & complete

28. Pragmatic, independent, no-nonsense, unorganized, friend
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29. Authoritative, moody, reserved
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30. Humorous, friendly, easy going and still a clear message
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32. More to explore
www.fabrique.nl
www.johnnyholland.org
Jeroen van Geel
jeroeng@fabrique.nl
linkedin.com/in/jeroenvangeel
@jeroenvangeel

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