Draft Personas and Scenarios of Use are created by information architects to assist in user-centered design.
User-Centered Design [Wikipedia]
Personas [Usability.gov]
Scenarios of Use [Usability.gov]
User-Centered Design that includes People with Disabilities [W3C Web Accessibility Initiative]
Personas from Wireless RERC to show phone use by PWD
Personas from FluidProject.org
These formative documents are intended to start a conversation. By defining functional requirements of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in regard to the activities of people with disabilities, the approaches to inclusive design should be improved. These documents are intended to be enhanced and refined for all GAIT activities.
Defining solutions for a single abstract user rarely creates good solutions. Essentially, we create “sample / representative” people (Personas) whose needs are easier to understand. Then, we create examples of activities (Scenarios of Use) where technology can solve specific challenges.
To insure that we are creating solutions that extend, rather than conflict with, those solutions for able-bodied people, we may develop “generic” versions of Personas and Scenarios of Use as a baseline.
Personas
“Personas are fictitious characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic that might use a site or product. Personas are useful in considering the goals, desires, and limitations of the users in order to help to guide decisions about a product, such as features, interactions, and visual design.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personas
Scenarios of Use
"In computing, a scenario is a narrative describing foreseeable interactions of types of users (characters) and the system. Scenarios include information about goals, expectations, motivations, actions and reactions. Scenarios are neither predictions nor forecasts, but rather attempts to reflect on or portray the way in which a system is used in the context of daily activity."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scenario_(computing)
Early work includes two Scenarios of Use - one for each Persona
Please note the existence of a comment area at the bottom of each page. This area can be used for open critiques and suggestions for revision.
It is always possible to sent comments to: Email Arthur Murphy