Unanticipated Consequences And Influences

Unanticipated Consequences and Influences

Persona Non Grata Steve Portigal Portigal Consulting | [email protected] One recent morning I came into

day. Unfortunately, these images

lenging and ultimately unrealistic

my office and found a small

evoke Team America World Police

stock photo.

woman astride my desk. Well,

more than they evoke any actual

to be precise, it wasn’t an actual

empathy or (heaven forbid) convey

for personas—alliterative names

woman. It was a cutout of a pho-

useful information.

and generic imagery—reveals

tograph of a doll representing an

ticular (frightening) persona man-

illustrate is not real, yet they are

My officemate had brought this

ifestation; this is a critique of per-

often buttressed with the inclu-

odd item back for me from the

sonas and the inevitable impulse

sion of “color” details—interesting

CHI conference, and, knowing my

to misuse them. Personas are

but manufactured factoids (i.e.,

extreme discomfort with this sort

misused to maintain a “safe” dis-

media diet, favorite possessions,

of tool, had left it for me as some

tance from the people we design

marital status, etc.) that suggest

sort of a gift.

for, manifesting contempt over

a real person lurks behind the

understanding, and creating the

smiling stock photo. Like reality

and recognized a familiar level of

facade of user-centeredness while

television, the appeal comes from

suspended realism: think Barbie,

merely reinforcing who we want to

the seduction of a sanitized form

G.I. Joe, Robot Chicken. Indeed, the

be designing for and selling to.

of reality. And like reality televi-

David Gartner

dollmaker had outfitted her with

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their role in the Big Lie. What they

archetypal customer—a persona.

I took a closer look at the effigy

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This isn’t a critique of this par-

The common representation

This impulse to distance oneself

sion, personas are easier to deal

meticulously crafted accessories

from the customer while simul-

such as a digital watch, ID badge,

taneously claiming to embrace

with than the inevitable messiness of real people and real life. Using

CD-ROM, and Day-Timer.

the human element isn’t limited

personas takes away both the

to designers and to their use of

responsibility and the necessity

personas. Market segmentation is

of having to actually engage with

The company that produced

often presented in a similarly lim-

a customer and acknowledge who

the persona is announcing to the

iting format. For instance, a client

they are.

world that it regards its users as

recently approached us and out-

mere dolls, as dehumanized, life-

lined the different types of people

updated, because culture is a mov-

less, plastic lumps that are with-

they wanted to know more about.

ing target. The Associated Press

out will, motion, action, or emo-

Each one came with its own infan-

reported [“Shampoo Ads Highlight

tion until their master (creator?)

tilizing alliterative name, such as

Changing Image of Women

physically animates them. There is

Critical Incident Carl, Integrator

in Japan,” August 27, 2007] on

powerful subtext here—does this

Ian, and so on. The ease with

groundbreaking shampoo adver-

company manipulate its custom-

which she spoke to us about real

tising in Japan that began to break

ers the way a benevolent yet stern

people as if they were characters

free of the traditional marketing

tween stages her tea party?

from the Strawberry Shortcake

stereotypes, where female con-

universe was distressing.

sumers were seen only as one of

And, frankly, it creeped the hell out of me.

The back of the cardboard cutout has some smart text about the

Just for fun, do a Google image

Once defined, personas must be

three types: a housewife, an office

type of user represented: her skill

search for “personas” and you’ll

worker, or a schoolgirl. Shiseido

level, experience, attitude, objec-

find many examples of the same

acknowledged the cultural chang-

tives, job priorities, and relation-

reduction of the human element.

es that have swept through Japan,

ship to the products this company

Pay particular attention to the

and its new advertising has had a

makes. It also shows some thumb-

visual representation of the per-

tremendous impact on sales. Its

nail photos depicting the figure

sona: it’s either cartoonish clip art

rejection of closely held models

through the course of her work-

or a beautiful yet bland, unchal-

of who its consumers were, while

OPINION

successful, was seen as radical

they lead to certain types of usage.

within the industry.

When we met with a client to kick off an in-depth user-research

memetic power via alliterative

study, we walked into a confer-

names like Jessie Jeans Buyer,

ence room where the whiteboard

these iconic oversimplifications

was filled with aspirational—not

become shibboleths inside the

factual—personas. It required

corporation, creating significant

significant organizational effort

cultural resistance to the idea of

to approve the work of studying

refreshing them. As a tangible

real users, but in the meantime, it

output of some process, they

was trivial for the team to gener-

become a new truth that can blind

ate (out of thin air) richly detailed

us from seeing the real world.

examples of who those customers

Recently, at a design competi-

were. Compared side by side with

tion hosted by a major software

actual research, persona confabu-

company, teams were given

lation requires very little effort. To

fancy new Web-design software

make a crude comparison, guns

and were asked to create a “safe”

don’t kill people, but they make it

social-networking site for kids,

a lot easier. And personas aren’t

based on several personas (the kid,

solely responsible for bad design or

her mother, and her mischievous

solely to blame for the disconnect

friend). The design presentations

between designers and their cus-

were mostly an excuse to show

tomers, but they make bad design

off some cool visual or interactive

a hell of a lot easier. To compound

design feature that the team came

the problem, personas enable all

stories. Don’t deny the need to

up with. There was no examina-

of this under a cloak of smug cus-

do in-person research with real

tion of what constituted “safe,”

tomer-centricity, while instilling

people. Look for ways to represent

and the personas were regurgi-

bemused contempt. As with guns,

what you’ve learned in a way that

tated in the context of the design

we need to be trained to use these

maintains the messiness of actual

solutions with all the subtlety of a

tools safely, but given the preva-

human beings. And understand

sitcom character. Acknowledging

lence of untrained users and the

that no tool, no method, and no

the time and energy constraints of

ensuing casualties, let’s step back

shortcut, can substitute for real,

a competition, the experience sug-

and consider whether the benefits

in-person interactions. People are

gests that simply handing some-

of these tools outweigh the risks.

too wonderfully complicated, to be

one a persona is not sufficient to

Any process based in falsehood

actually engage them in thinking

takes you away from being genu-

about a real person. The solutions

ine. If this is the best way we have

were not believable, and since they

to keep the organization focused

were based on fake people, it was

on a “real” customer, then we

not unexpected.

have larger organizational prob-

You might react to this argu-

lems that need to be addressed.

ment by disclaiming that “perso-

With personas, we’re going down

nas are just a tool.” So they are,

the wrong path. Rather than cre-

but tools have affordances, and

ate distancing caricatures, tell

reduced to plastic toys. About the Author  Steve is the founder of Portigal Consulting, a boutique agency that helps companies discover and act on new insights about themselves and their customers. He is an accomplished instructor and public speaker, and an avid photographer who curates a Museum of Foreign Grocery Products in his home. Steve blogs regularly for All This ChittahChattah, at www.portigal.com/blog.

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By imbuing a persona with

TRUE TALES

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