Because 'the need for designers and developers to understand human behavior has grown', new ways to accommodate technology to the needs of users have been smartly developed. The article on personas started out a little ridiculous sounding to me and I began reading this article thinking that personas were a waste of time and money...then I remembered how much I love Urban Outfitters' more spendy, more chic sister-store, Anthropologie. I know a few people who work in the store, and I have been given the inside scoop on aspects of their training. In one stage they are required to read stories about a set of women. These women have names, personal preferences on what they do with their time, fears, passions, and particular fashions. They inform their employees about these woman because the store is seamlessly separated into sections regarding this set of women. After hearing this, I realized a reason I love Anthro so much...I feel comfortable there. When I walk in, I do not get overwhelmed, but I meander to the section of the store where I typically find my favorite items. When I subconsciously understand I won't find anything appealing in a particular section of the store, I do not stress that I didn't look hard enough for hidden treasures, and I move on. I believe Anthropologie uses the same Persona technique that the article's software company used.
So even though I was skeptical of the Persona technique at first, I see that it works. After reading on in the article, I found that I was more and more convinced of it's effectiveness. It is important for any company selling something to be relevant to an array of users.
Excitement for a product also shines through from producer to consumer, and as the article states, 'personas were not critical to this process, they served as a springboard that inspired creation.' It seems to me to be much more exciting to design with an actual human-being in mind, rather than designing for the ambiguous person that may or may not be like you.
the earthy girl, the tomboy, the chic.
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