The personas method. A tool for communicating data from visitor studies

Abstract

The paper provides an introduction to the personas method, a tool for the communication and application of complex and abstract data from visitor studies. Personas are data-based yet fictitious characters representing a specific group of visitors. They are developed in order to assist the staff in decision-making. This paper offers some theoretical background and describes the steps for designing and using personas, including the analysis and preparation of visitor data as well as the creation of personas with two examples. Finally, it explains how to work with personas.