Character Development And User Personas

When creating an improv scene, you start from a base reality that specifies characters, location, and an activity. Once this starting point is established, the task of the players is to find the first unusual thing that creates a game that propels the scene toward comedy.

Characters can be played straight to explore the base reality and provide background for the unusual thing to stand out. Game characters are played to intentionally break from the expectations of the base reality, heightening and exploring the comedic game. The traits and behaviors you give to your characters guide the scene, where the more specific the traits, the more identifiable the game.

Here are 2 scenes with multiple character options. Notice how the characteristics illuminate different possible paths for the scene to play out. What kind of value and influence does each character have on how the scene might unfold?

Scenario 1: Patients with injuries in a full ER waiting room.

• vague character: a kid with a broken arm

• detailed straight character: 10 year old Timmy, first time skater, with a broken arm

• game character: Massimo, high school exchange student, accidentally signed up for the wrong football team

• different game character: Tasha, captain of the snark club, who is there to treat a “sick burn”

Scenario 2: Family game night choosing teams.

• vague character: competitive kid

• detailed straight character: Kevin, the older brother, who wants to continue his 10 game winning streak

• game character: Wilhelm Alexander, the 5 year old younger brother, who deftly manipulates the other players through their fears and weaknesses.

• different game character: Soft spoken Mom, who obviously favors one child over the other for their ruthlessness.

You can see how committing to specific details and strong character choices reveals how a scene can develop around their perspective, intentions, and future actions. The game is more obvious through these characters.

A similar principle is used in software design. Designing for unnamed, generic users leads to a basic, functional application. The problem often arises when the actual users are named individuals that have a diverse set of expectations and needs. One tool developed to push the designer and developer to build applications for real users is User Personas.

User Personas involve strategic character development, where a cast of users are given names, traits, preferences, and roles. The app is then designed with a variety of more detailed characters in mind. These details help reveal how specific features should unfold.

Here is a feature that needs to be built into a sales tool. Notice how the user personas illuminate different possible solutions. What kind of design would satisfy these users?

Feature 1: A contract submission process

• generic user: I need to submit customer contracts before the end of the day

• user persona: Todd, 5th year sales rep who hones his efficiency so he can see all 3 three of his customers in a day in record time so he can get home to his family. He likes to go appointment to appointment, then at the end of the day review all of the contracts before submitting at one time.

• user persona: Martha, contract reviewer who bakes a cake if a sales rep goes one week without having to resubmit a contract due to errors. She needs contract submissions to be final and accurate or marked as pending. She thinks people make more mistakes if they don’t submit them right away. She could list a million excuses reps come up with, but her most frustrating one is they finished the contract but forgot to submit it.

• user persona: Gary, rep in training, needs to review sales steps before and after each appointment. He wants to make sure he gets each contract submitted before moving on to the next appointment.

• user persona: Gabe, trainer with over 25 trainees, needs to look over Gary’s contracts before he submits them.