Don’t create features for yourself.
Creating features based on a personal preference is wrong
On almost every development team meeting somebody brings a new idea about how to ‘improve’ already adopted feature set.
Naturally, every person involved in the project development has her own opinion about how the things should work on a web site. Most of the time, it’s based on her personal taste and preference. That’s wrong. That is not user-centered design.
You are not creating a feature set for yourself, you are creating it for a thousands of users you’ve never met… and if you are serious about the web site, that’s a millions of users you’ve never met. Always keep in mind: You are not a typical user of a web site you are developing.
First person view, third person view
If you are usually explaining a feature by I would never use this feature…
or If I would like to do something on this page…
(note the I pronoun), it’s a good sign you’re thinking of yourself, not the users.
Creating personas is a good way to start asking What would Janet, the office manager, like to accomplish on this web site?
or How would James, the insurance agent, use this feature?
. This way, you are focusing on users, not yourself.
8 Comments
This could be transfered to clients as well. I had so many unusual requests just because my client or my client’s boss wants to see it. At the end we often develop client-centered design.
Comment (#) by Alen — 9th September 2007.
That’s client-centered design™.
Comment (#) by marko — 9th September 2007.
Client-centered design, mmmm … sometimes can work out ok but more often than not can turn into a real nightmare, especially with clients who don’t really understand the web and who tend to assume that the whole world thinks like they do!
I am really going to have some fun tomorrow :)
Comment (#) by Medo — 9th September 2007.
Good points, Marko. As I was reading I couldn’t help but think how all this relates to what the client wants. Then I got down to the comments. :)
To me, it seems the primary benefit of creating personas would be to convice clients of the need (or lack thereof) for certain features. After all, they’re usally the ones throwing around those first-person pronouns.
Comment (#) by Jason Beaird — 10th September 2007.
Hi,
I must say that i absolutely agree w/ you (and Jason as well, but clients wishes is a whole different issue), and i guess that in web studios you can “negotiate” w/ colleagues about the structure of a certain project, but in most agencys the art director has the final word, and it s always something like: “I would like to do something on this page".
Are all art directors like that, basing entire campaigns (both designs and copy) on their personal taste?
Comment (#) by Igor — 12th September 2007.
Short and sweet.
I had a similar case one month ago - it was really wierd to even try to explain why certain feature is not a good one or unique.
You know which feature that was? Well, client wanted to get an e-mail whenever he recieves an e-mail inside of the webmail site. Quite reduntant. But his Eureka look was priceless, he saw this one as USP and a cool feature nobody has in webmails…. FTW.
Comment (#) by Sinisa Dukaric (digitalvomiting) — 12th September 2007.
And how many times I’ve seen those, too. I’m almost tempted to give such ideas a try just for the sake of the colleague’s/client’s enthusiasm. But most of the time — you simply can’t sqeeze in 2 extra days for such an experiment.
Comment (#) by marko — 12th September 2007.
Personas are great although, more often than not, it’s enough to bring up the “why exactly are we doing this” question. Once the client gets pushed into direction of thinking about the goals he’d like to achieve, about whether his business would benefit from it, it’s much more likely he’d be willing to listen a bit.
At that point you’ve made it to square one, but it opens up a whole new Pandora’s box. By this I mean that you should be prepared for long training sessions with the client explaining in’s and out’s about how-things-work-on-the-web™.
That, on the other hand, requires time (yours). And time usually correlates to money (theirs).
How it all rolls out from here on is always uncertain :)
Comment (#) by Vanja Bertalan (web.burza) — 14th September 2007.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time, but if you have anything to say, please send me a message.