Abstract
BackgroundPersonas, based on customer or population data, are widely used to inform design decisions in the commercial sector. The variety of methods available means that personas can be produced from projects of different types and scale.ObjectiveThis study aims to experiment with the use of personas that bring together data from a survey, household air measurements and electricity usage sensors, and an interview within a research and innovation project, with the aim of supporting eHealth and eWell-being product, process, and service development through broadening the engagement with and understanding of the data about the local community.MethodsThe project participants were social housing residents (adults only) living in central Cornwall, a rural unitary authority in the United Kingdom. A total of 329 households were recruited between September 2017 and November 2018, with 235 (71.4%) providing complete baseline survey data on demographics, socioeconomic position, household composition, home environment, technology ownership, pet ownership, smoking, social cohesion, volunteering, caring, mental well-being, physical and mental health–related quality of life, and activity. K-prototype cluster analysis was used to identify 8 clusters among the baseline survey responses. The sensor and interview data were subsequently analyzed by cluster and the insights from all 3 data sources were brought together to produce the personas, known as the Smartline Archetypes.ResultsThe Smartline Archetypes proved to be an engaging way of presenting data, accessible to a broader group of stakeholders than those who accessed the raw anonymized data, thereby providing a vehicle for greater research engagement, innovation, and impact.ConclusionsThrough the adoption of a tool widely used in practice, research projects could generate greater policy and practical impact, while also becoming more transparent and open to the public.
Highlights
History of PersonasIn 1999, software developer Alan Cooper [1] published the book “The Inmates are Running the Asylum” in which he advocated “user-centered design.” To focus the design of software or any other product on the intended user, Cooper suggested using “personas” [1-5]
Public engagement with community partners identified that it was important to include some diversity among the Smartline Archetypes
Limitations and Areas for Development. Despite these valuable uses identified for the Smartline Archetypes, we identified a number of weaknesses or challenges in their development
Summary
History of PersonasIn 1999, software developer Alan Cooper [1] published the book “The Inmates are Running the Asylum” in which he advocated “user-centered design.” To focus the design of software or any other product on the intended user, Cooper suggested using “personas” [1-5]. Personas have been applied in a wide variety of fields where systems, services, or products are being designed for human use. Such applications include health service design [3,6,7], eHealth services [2,6,8-13], and health behavior change [14-17]. Objective: This study aims to experiment with the use of personas that bring together data from a survey, household air measurements and electricity usage sensors, and an interview within a research and innovation project, with the aim of supporting eHealth and eWell-being product, process, and service development through broadening the engagement with and understanding of the data about the local community. Conclusions: Through the adoption of a tool widely used in practice, research projects could generate greater policy and practical impact, while becoming more transparent and open to the public
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