user profiles? user scenarios?

Out of context: Reply #7

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  • protoculture0

    Here's one we discussed in one of my previous classes.

    You're building a website tool that allows its users to create web pages tripod, geocities, etc...) Many different types of people are expected to use the site.

    Question is how you design for all of them?

    Answer, you don't. Design the site for 2 or 3 specific types of users. You don’t sew an average suit because it will not fit anyone

    Example Persona
    Heather
    Female, no specific ethnicity, single, 26 year old grad student
    From Lincoln, Nebraska; now lives in Berkeley, Ca, grad dorms
    2 brothers – both play football at U of Nebraska
    Family is middle class and well-educated, she’s a starving grad student
    Goes to Berkeley for Marine Biology, full scholarship, works in the lab
    Took time off between to work for non-profit (Greenpeace)
    Interests: marine biology, oceans in general, wildlife,...
    Advanced web user and builder
    Brand new laptop (gift from family for grad school)
    Uses computer from dorm room, coffee shops, library, lab
    Uses computer for homework, writing her journal, maintaining her site
    Dorm room connection (T1?)
    Main goal: Stay connected with her friends & family -- an avenue of personal expression
    Comes to Tripod, because it’s free and has more advanced tools
    She has two sites and two usernames: one is her personal site, and the other is her thesis site
    Uses our most advanced tools (FileManager, FreeForm, Gear, etc.)

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