Comments on: The Problem With Personas http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/ ChristopherCummings.com - Product Management Blog Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:58:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Amy Evans http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-669 Amy Evans Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:06:18 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-669 Great post. Great site. We used personas for more complex products in the Fortune 50 company I worked for. We generally had multiple personas based on company/segment size and vertical market. Great post. Great site. We used personas for more complex products in the Fortune 50 company I worked for. We generally had multiple personas based on company/segment size and vertical market.

]]> By: Personas are Great - For Wasting Time! : Product Management Insights http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-668 Personas are Great - For Wasting Time! : Product Management Insights Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:53:49 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-668 [...] been meaning to write this post for a while. Recently, I saw a couple of blog posts on this topic (here and here) from bloggers I respect a lot. This spurred me to finally get around to writing this [...] [...] been meaning to write this post for a while. Recently, I saw a couple of blog posts on this topic (here and here) from bloggers I respect a lot. This spurred me to finally get around to writing this [...]

]]> By: Don't Forget About Segmentation | A Random Jog http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-665 Don't Forget About Segmentation | A Random Jog Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:53:20 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-665 [...] The Problem With Personas from Product Management Meets Pop Culture [...] [...] The Problem With Personas from Product Management Meets Pop Culture [...]

]]> By: Peter Hanschke http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-667 Peter Hanschke Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:51:58 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-667 Great post, Chris. I'm a strong believer in personas. If created and applied right - as you describe here - they really take the opinion out of the discussions ... tough to argue against all the customer visits / data collection you've done. It's critically important to have personas for all those that "touch" the product ... including the Application Admin persona. I find that, especially for enterprise software products, this persona is neglected or even worse omitted. The Application Administrator is usually part of the IT group ... who can very easily veto your product if it does not meet their needs. Great post, Chris. I’m a strong believer in personas. If created and applied right – as you describe here – they really take the opinion out of the discussions … tough to argue against all the customer visits / data collection you’ve done. It’s critically important to have personas for all those that “touch” the product … including the Application Admin persona. I find that, especially for enterprise software products, this persona is neglected or even worse omitted. The Application Administrator is usually part of the IT group … who can very easily veto your product if it does not meet their needs.

]]> By: Jim http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-666 Jim Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:12:31 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-666 What's the best practice for the number of personas a product should have. Particularly for enterprise software, where there are many roles involved with buying and using your software. Sometimes the buyer doesn't use the software, but they are comparing your product with others during the purchase decision. What's a good rule of thumb for merging many personas into fewer? What’s the best practice for the number of personas a product should have. Particularly for enterprise software, where there are many roles involved with buying and using your software. Sometimes the buyer doesn’t use the software, but they are comparing your product with others during the purchase decision. What’s a good rule of thumb for merging many personas into fewer?

]]> By: Christopher Cummings http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-664 Christopher Cummings Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:17:18 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-664 Hi Becky - Good question. It would probably depend on what sort of test this is? For a new product? And existing product? If it's a new product, my advice would be to test with a reasonable range of potential users, even if they fall outside the primary persona, because very few products only have a primary personas using them... Agree? Disagree? - Chris Hi Becky -

Good question. It would probably depend on what sort of test this is? For a new product? And existing product? If it’s a new product, my advice would be to test with a reasonable range of potential users, even if they fall outside the primary persona, because very few products only have a primary personas using them… Agree? Disagree?

- Chris

]]> By: Becky Kingsley http://christophercummings.com/2009/09/28/the-problem-with-personas/comment-page-1/#comment-663 Becky Kingsley Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:22:32 +0000 http://christophercummings.com/blog/?p=1364#comment-663 We're planning our first user test, and the question we're currently struggling with is, should we only test with users from our primary persona? I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on this matter. Thank you. We’re planning our first user test, and the question we’re currently struggling with is, should we only test with users from our primary persona? I would like to hear everyone’s thoughts on this matter. Thank you.

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