This document discusses creating learner personas to inform library classroom design. It defines personas as narrative descriptions of student types for whom a class is designed. An example persona named Rebecca is provided. The benefits of personas include combating self-referential design and fostering empathy. Data from the target course and institution can be used to create quantitative and qualitative personas. Several sample personas are described including Jian, Janelle, Anthony, and Bridget to represent different student backgrounds, motivations, and learning styles. Personas are intended to help instructors consider diverse student needs in instructional planning.

1. Creating Learner
Personas for the
Library Classroom
AMANDA FOSTER, INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN, WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

2. What’s a Persona?
Web Design/User Experience Design
 A narrative description of a user, who represents a user
“type” for whom a website or tool is designed
Education/Learner Experience Design
 A narrative description of a student, who represents a
student “type” for whom a class is designed

3. What does one look like?
Meet Rebecca:
 Class Year: First Year
 Major: Undeclared, but interested
in Psychology
 Extra-curriculars: Plays on WFU
Women’s Field Hockey Team
 Motivations: Student Athlete
Adviser recommended the course
to help with academic success
 Wants to learn: Citations
 Learning Style: solitary/self-study
 Learning Barriers: overwhelmed by
field hockey and academic
schedules; has library/research
anxiety

4. Why make them?
Combats “self-referential” class design
 Designing a class based on your own learning style
Creates empathy:
 Personas force you to consider the background,
experiences, and learning styles of specific (fictionalized)
students as you design your learning outcomes,
activities, and assignments
Puts a “face” on a “type” of student that you may
unintentionally forget to design your class around

5. What might you include?
 Demographics/Biological Characteristics
 Sociocultural Information
 Personality Traits
 Extra-Curricular Interests
 Motivations
 Learning Preferences and Barriers

6. Creating Learner Personas
 Quantitative Data
 Measurable Data about students, such as their year in
school or major
 Qualitative Data
 Observable Data about students, such as their
motivations,

7. LIB100 By Class Year
First Year
18%
Sophomore
32%
Junior
25%
Senior
25%

8. LIB100 By Major
Undeclared
44%
Social Sciences
26%
Business
8%
Humanities
10%
Sciences
11%
Education
1%

9. Wake Forest Quantitative Data
 Gender: 53% Female, 47% Male
 Ethnicity: 72.2% White, 8.4% African American, 7.8%
Asian, 5.8% Hispanic/Latino, 0.5% Native
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 0.3% American Indian/Alaska
Native, 2.3% One or more races, 2.8% Not reported
 Greek Like: 57% females in Sororities, 35% males in
Fraternities
 Locals: 21% if our students are from North Carolina
 Source: Wake Forest Factbook (2014-2015)

10. LIB100 Qualitative Data (Survey)
 What made you decide to take LIB100?
 What experiences (if any) have you had with
libraries and/or conducting academic
research?
 What (if anything) gives you the most anxiety
about libraries?
 What do you hope to learn in LIB100?
 How do you like to learn?

11. Jian
 Class Year: Junior
 Major: Business & Enterprise
Management
 Extra-curriculars: Finance Club,
Wake International Students
Association, photography
 Motivations: Wanted one more
credit to round out his schedule
 Wants to learn: how to navigate
the web and library
 Learning Style: verbal & visual
 Learning Barriers: isolation from
classmates, cultural differences
from professors/classmates

12. Janelle
 Class Year: Senior
 Major: Biology
 Extra-Curriculars: BSA, AKA Sorority,
Resident Adviser for Davis Hall
 Motivations: Taking LIB100 to
prepare for graduate-level library
research
 Wants to learn: how to research
for honors thesis
 Learning Style: labs/learning by
doing
 Learning Barriers: professors
underestimating her, pressure from
parents expectations

13. Anthony
 Class Year: First Year
 Major: Undeclared, but interested
in Politics & Int’l Affairs (Pre-Law)
 Extra-Curriculars: SG Senate –
Judiciary, Mock Trial, running
 Motivations: Heard LIB100 will help
with research papers which he
struggles with
 Wants to learn: citations and
databases
 Learning Style: logical /
mathematical
 Learning Barriers: distracted by the
fraternity rush semester slump and
a sick parent at home

14. Bridget
 Class Year: Sophomore
 Major: About to declare Theatre
 Extra-curriculars: WFU theatre
productions, part-time job off-
campus
 Motivations: wanted to learn more
about the library, citations, and
academic research
 Wants to learn: Navigating the
stacks b/c stacks are intimidating
 Learning Style: group work/social
 Learning Barriers: first-generation
student, financial stress,
undisclosed to professor (but
documented) learning disability

15. Are they useful?
 Anecdotally, yes.
 Purposeful use when planning during the instructional design
process: learning outcomes, assessments, etc..

16. Further Reading
Cooper, Alan. About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design. 3rd Edition. Wiley,
2007.
“Guide to Patron Personas.” Wayne State University Libraries. Web.
Maier, Ronald and Stefan Thalmann. “Using Personas for Designing Knowledge and
Learning Services: Results of an Ethnographically Informed Study.” International
Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning 2.1/2 (2010): 58-74.
Massanari, Adrienne. “Designing for Imaginary Friends: Information Architecture,
Personas, and the Politics of User-Centered Design.” New Media & Society 12.3
(2010): 401-416.
Muir, John. “User Personas in Instructional Design.” The Ohio State University, 10 Jan.
2014.
“Personas.” Usability.gov. Web.
Turner, Phil and Susan Turner. “Is Stereotyping Inevitable When Designing With
Personas?” Design Studies 31.1 (2011) 30-44.

17. Image Credits:
 Rebecca: Simon Boardman. Image, April 1 2009. Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/s_boardman/4777864843/. Creative Commons
License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
 Jian: Beryl_snw. “Daily” Image, November 18, 2012. Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/beryl_snw/8229692506. Creative Commons
License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
 Janelle: Converse College. “Science” Image, October 22, 2013. Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/conversecollege/10843768855/. Creative
Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-sa/2.0/
 Anthony: tgidenvery. Images, February 8, 2014. Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tgidenver/12409524644/. Creative Commons
License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
 Bridget: Carros de Foc. Image, June 1, 2014. Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carrosfoc/15225096507/. Creative Commons
License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/