Personas Make Users Memorable for Product Team Members (Aurora Bedford)

The field of user experience centers on the idea that we must design products around people, rather than teaching people how to use products: user-centered design (UCD), not technology-centered design. In order to do so, we must understand people—their behaviors, attitudes, needs, and goals. Whether the final product is a website, software application, mobile app, or interactive kiosk, a user-centered design can only be achieved if we know who is going to use it and if that knowledge informs our design. An entire arsenal of user-research methods can be employed to achieve a user-centered design. Personas are yet another tool that can be used to encourage decisions based on a real person’s needs, and not on those of a generic and undefined “user.” (nngroup.com)