Participatory design of persona artefacts for user eXperience in non-WEIRD cultures

Abstract

Persona is elicited through qualitative, quantitative or both methods combined. Yet, for it to be validated data must come from research on end-users. Literature reveals projects combining persona and participatory design (PD) tend to be long-lasting, large-scale, western, resourceful ventures, with personas being generated from extensive qualitative user-data and empirical research. This project investigates how the method is taken on, interpreted, constructed and communicated by end-users within PD in non-WEIRD (Westernised, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Developed) cultures. Literature pinpoints a misuse of persona by design stakeholders across cultures due to either a lack of grounded data; interpretivism vs. user-data in decision-making, or to organisational decisions and power dimensions within the PD process. Besides, most projects involve end-users in the research phase, yet not in creating and grounding of personas - which often come built from somewhere else. This project thus sets to provide empirical research on how end-users in non-WEIRD settings elicit and build personas within PD to convey their technological requirements, expectations and aspirations towards a satisfactory User Experience (UX).