Goal-based Consolidation

The bulk of the previous phase, Phase 2,  consisted of contextual inquiry and analysis. As a result, the team interviewed tens of interviewees representing potential users, collected Work Activity Notes (WAN) & Work Artifacts, and constructed a Work Activity Affinity Diagram (WAAD). Our initial approach was goal-based consolidation- returning back to Phase 2 and extracting key characteristics by merging similarities from the wide range of data provided by a diverse group of interviewees. From the list of interviews, we determined the basic personal information of the possible personas such as age, gender, and personality. From the set of WANs, we got a sense of how the basic personal information of an interviewee correlates with personal travel preferences such as travel frequencies, reasons, and activities. Based on the WAAD, we generalized the observed correlations between backgrounds and preferences amongst various individual interviewees to create three possible selected personas. In summary, we were able to recognize patterns to create the skeletons of the candidate personas. 

Examples of common traveler backgrounds & goals:

• A college student traveling with friends to broaden the range of experiences during a break

• A parent traveling with family members to create memories during the holiday season

• A company worker traveling with colleagues during business travel

From there, we added flesh to the skeletons by determining additional details. The approach we took was elaborating on the characteristics of the candidate personas by writing the details out on a whiteboard as a group. Deciding as a group was to assure consistency because each member of the team interviewed a different group of interviewees. As a result of the process, we were able to create paragraphs of details about selected personas, which are attached below for reference.

Identification of Design Target

The primary persona represents the best design target the design will specifically aim at.  When deciding the primary persona, the designers must not simply aim for an individual that combines or serves as the average of various types of possible users due to the likelihood that no selected persona will find the design appealing.  Instead, the designers must think from the perspectives of the selected personas and consider how the design may change depending on the selected persona.  After that, the designers may add minor adjustments to the existing selected personas because increasing the precision and specificity of the design target reduces ambiguities during the design process.

As shown in the photos above, selected persona #1 is an outgoing University student who is competent in technology enough to prefer spontaneous travel plans. Persona #1 values exploring unpopular sites, capturing memories, and having impromptu travel plans, so the features of StreetSmart are definitely handy. However, StreetSmart's calendar features may be rarely used by persona #1 due to the personal preference of flexible travel schedule. Overall, persona #1 would make the most of StreetSmart for reducing the work required when documenting travel memories like photos, videos, and diaries for future reference.

Selected persona #2 is a head of a household that travels a couple of times a year with family members based on meticulously organized travel plans. However, the biggest flaw of persona #2 is personal preferences in terms of popular sites & credible hospitality.  Although StreetSmart provides such information, the majority is based on feedback from other StreetSmart users.  In other words, persona #2 may find other sources like TripAdvisor more helpful and trustworthy. However, persona #2 is expected to utilize the calendar features of StreetSmart extensively when crafting a detailed travel plan.

Selected persona #3 works as a consultant, which requires occasional business travels, and plans ahead to fit as many events as possible for the available free time. Persona #3 definitely finds StreetSmart useful. The calendar features will allow persona #3 to combine the business schedule with the travel schedule. The journal features will record persona #3's travel memories to share with others later. However, the issue with persona #3 is similar to that of persona #2- due to the lack of time, persona #3 prioritizes famous landmarks over unexplored sites. For this reason, other sources like TripAdvisor will provide more accurate, thorough comments.