It's been 13 years since Alan Cooper introduced UXers to Personas in _The Inmates are Running the Asylum_. How can the personas we create reflect the changes that have occurred in that time?

1. Danielle Cooley
@dgcooley
Personas
in the Age of Social Media
UPA 2012

2. persona [per-soh-nuh]
noun, plural personae, personas
Fictional character created to
represent a specific user type
…that might use a site, brand, or
product in a similar way.
Basically, an archetype of a user.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/persona
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(marketing)

4. 1999 2012
http://wiki.fluidproject.org/display/fluid/Persona+Format

5. • Research-based
“We … discover them as a byproduct of the investigation
process.”1
• Goal-focused
“Personas are defined by their goals. Goals, of course,
are defined by their personas.”1
• Detailed
“We don’t just let Emilee drive to work. We give her a
dark-blue 1991 Toyota Camry, with a gray plastic kid’s
seat strapped into the back and an ugly scrape on the
rear bumper.”2
• Few
“If we find more than three primary personas, it means
that our problem set is too large…”3
• Not reusable
Different personas use different product features.4
Cooper, Alan. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. 1999. Page 124.
Cooper, Alan. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. 1999. Page 128.
Cooper, Alan. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum. 1999. Page 137.
Smith, Carol. Personas at Work. Slide 13. http://www.slideshare.net/carologic/personas-at-work
T-shirt via http://parkavenuecoffee.com

6. Junk drawer photo via Creative Commons license from flickr user puuikibeach.

7. Don’t forget about
Profile photo is familiar. the ads!
Cover photo adds
richness.
Friends | Photos | Maps | Likes
section provides insight
Includes specifics
into the persona.
about education,
employment, and
relationship status. “Likes” section in the body of the
timeline shows more detail.
Hobbies and personal
interests can be Integration with other
reflected in status social media tools is
updates. revealing.

9. Facebook Ads
Geography Politics Employment
Hobbies Gender

10. Great! Let’s create an account…

13. Goals
About
Timeline

15. • 186 layers
• 30 (or more) images
http://www.sxc.hu/

16. And then…
#%^&^$@(*!
Δ= 52
22 layers 30 layers
Δ= 42
26 layers
31 layers
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/facebook-begins-testing-redesigned-timeline-view

17. Twitter, on the other hand…

18. Rock Star. Gamer.
@JustWilma @RedheadRockStar
Geography Politics Employment
Hobbies Gender
@JustWilma photo via creative commons license from flickr user Alaskan Dude.
@RedheadRockStar photo courtesy of twitter user @ElisaRockDoc.

20. http://facebookpersona.notlong.com/
?