Other Models

Personas are extremely useful tools, but they are certainly not the only tool to help model users and their environment. Holzblatt and Beyer's Contextual Design provides a wealth of information on the models briefly discussed here. Workflow or sequence models are useful for capturing information flow and decision-making processes inside organizations and are usually expressed as directed graphs that capture several phenomena:

  • What initiates a process

  • Information the user produces and consumes

  • Decisions the user makes

  • Actions the user takes

  • Results that follow from actions

A well-developed persona should capture personal workflows, but workflow models are still necessary for capturing interpersonal and organizational workflows.

Artifact models represent, as the name suggests, different artifacts that users employ in their tasks and workflows. Often these artifacts are online or paper forms. Artifact models typically capture commonalities and significant differences between similar artifacts for the purpose of extracting and replicating best practices in the eventual design. Artifact models can be useful later in the design process, with the caveat that direct translation of paper systems to digital systems, without a careful analysis of goals and application of design principles (especially those found in Section Two of this book), usually leads to usability issues.

Physical models, like artifact models, endeavor to capture elements of the user's environment. Physical models focus on capturing the layout of physical objects that comprise the user's workspace, which can provide insight into frequency of use issues and physical barriers to productivity. Good persona descriptions will incorporate some of this information, but it may be helpful in complex physical environments (such as shop floors and assembly lines) to create discrete, detailed physical models (maps) of the user environment.

Personas and other models make sense out of otherwise overwhelming and confusing user data. Now that you are empowered with sophisticated models as design tools, the next chapter will show you how to employ these tools to translate user goals and needs into workable design solutions.




About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
About Face 2.0(c) The Essentials of Interaction Design
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2006
Pages: 263

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net