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taSk analySiS
project is being designed for. The persona assists
in understanding user information needs informing
design and accessibility and ultimately suitability.
However, it must not become a replacement for
active user involvement. User profiles have been
used for some time in marketing with the persona
introduced in project design byAlan Cooper in the
late 1990s. Cooper's (1999) early work focused on
goal directed design by creating fictional personas
used as a basis for creating activity scenarios. In
later years more detailed personas were developed
by using interviews and ethnography to gain a
clearer picture and understanding of intended user
groups across a much wider range of disciplines
(Bloomquist, & Arvola, 2002). Lang (2007)
stresses the importance of locating the persona
within the relevant discipline and the disjuncture
that can often unwittingly occur in beliefs and
actual practices across disciplines. Where interdis-
ciplinary differences exist these can be managed
and resolved by basing decision making on what
is best suited to the needs of the persona (McKay
& Martin, 2007). Research conducted by Ronkko
(2005) in Sweden cautions against tokenistic and
inappropriate use of personas to justify design
decisions without proper user consultation as well
as problems that can occur when power is used
inappropriately within the design team.
For personas to be used effectively a strong
commitment is required by all members of the
project team. The use of abstract representations
to guide design have been used extensively, how-
ever often designers do not have a shared view
of their intended user group and can fall in to the
trap of designing for themselves. Cooper (2004)
argues that designing for a persona is better than
designing for the designer, or for a vaguely defined
user group. Hourihan (2002) warns against the
project team designing for themselves and losing
sight of the intended user group. She comments,
'We thought we were the primary persona. Like a
recovering substance abuser, it's a constant chal-
lenge for me to refrain - I can always imagine
that I'm the user' (p.3). Use of the persona can
Task analysis is useful in identifying the processes
and tasks associated with project design to achieve
the desired outcomes (Pruitt & Grundin 2003,
p.12). As with user analysis this is influenced by
psychological, social and cultural factors, as well
as the user's physical environment. Prior knowl-
edge and experience will also influence how tasks
are approached. The question of what tasks users
need to complete using ICT is considered as well
as different levels or types of uses. For example,
a tertiary student may be paying a university ac-
count, conducting library searches or accessing
lecture notes and course materials. The specific
steps that students follow in undertaking these
tasks are examined. This activity may or may
not involve use of ICT. The student may go to
the library to conduct their research, rely solely
on electronic sources or a mixture of both. A task
analysis provides information on how this activ-
ity is being conducted and the number of steps
involved. How users currently perform tasks is
examined with consideration of how efficient this
is. If ICT can assist in producing more efficient
outcomes this needs to be considered according to
how well these match with users' ways of thinking
and working as well as contextual factors.
A task analysis provides information on the
tasks and activities that the ICT must support
and the scope and nature of these. It will inform
decisions on the choices of different technologies
for different activities that match users' goals,
tasks and the steps involved. These steps will be
refined to support users achieving their goals in
the most efficient and effective manner. Once the
user and task analysis have been completed the
persona is designed.
perSona
The persona is a hypothetical construct that em-
bodies the main features of the population that the
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