How are “personas” different from user roles?
Personas are a variation on user roles popularized by Alan Cooper. Rather than abstracting the essential features of a relationship, personas are described as if they were real, specific persons, with personality, detailed history, and complete background. Although constructing the character of a persona can be a fun exercise, the concrete detail can obscure features of the underlying role that are essential for good design. Descriptions of actual users or representative personas can be a starting point for role modeling, but good design is best served by first describing roles in the abstract. Selected roles can then be “fleshed out” as personas if this is desired. See also the newsletter item on personas.
