RE: persona personified

 
There's a lot of this sort of thing going on in in advertising lately.
 
Valid personas *should* be based on aggregated and clustered information

gathered from observing/interviewing actual people, and it is a misuse
of
the personification technique to generate misleading
pseudo-testimonials, 
especially if they are largely (or wholly) fabricated.
 
Properly researched personas can be used to target messaging, and they
can 
be used to to drive design, and to achieve stakeholder consensus, but
they (and
especially ersatz versions of them) should not be used to misrepresent
products in 
the same way that actors playing doctors, etc. in broadcast and print
ads are.
 
        Robert.
--- 

Robert Reimann 
Manager, User Interface Design and Research 

Bose Corporation 
The Mountain 
Framingham, MA 01701 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: Gunnar Swanson [mailto:[email protected]] 
	Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 10:09 AM
	To: [email protected]
	Subject: [AIGAExperienceDesign] persona personified
	
	
	from Stuart Elliot/In Advertising The New York Times Direct:
	
	The fanciful scenario is also spreading into print
	advertisements like one now running in magazines for Zoloft,
	sold by Pfizer, which begins with the headline: "Zoloft has
	helped millions with depression. This is Denise's story."
	Underneath, in tiny type, are the words "Denise P. Age 39.
	Trenton, N.J."
	
	Nearby, however, is this disclaimer: "Story not based on
	actual person."
	
	----------
	Gunnar Swanson Design Office
	536 South Catalina Street
	Ventura California 93001-3625 USA
	
	+1 805 667-2200
	[email protected]
	
	http://www.gunnarswanson.com
	
	



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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