CMSC 198G - Spring 2008
Prof Guimbretiere

Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

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Homework #3: Persona and their Goals (100 points)
(Due 02/21/08)

1. (50 points) In this question you are asked to build personas and their goals by interviewing experts in a given field. For example if you were to study who is buying a pickup trucks, you will interview a couple of pickup truck dealerships around the area.
First pick an item or service you would like to know more about. This can be a certain type of car, any kind of appliance (phone, stereo equipment, cooking equipment), fashion items, or a certain type of restaurant. The main requirement is for you to be able to interview 2 or 3 experts about this item in one week.

1. (30 points) Breifly describe the item you picked, and the reason behind your choice. For each experts your interviewed explain:
1. The reason behind the selection of this expert, and a quick description of his/her expertise
2. When, where and how the interview took place;
3. The list of topics you discussed about, why these topics were discussed, and what you learned about each topic. To reach proper depth you should consider at least more than 4 topics.
2. (20 points) From the data you gathered, provide a quick desciption of the primary and secondary persona for the item you picked, and thier goals while using this item. Be sure provide a realistic description of the persona and their goals as described in Alan Cooper' readings. Be careful to explain how the data you gathered helped you sketch your persona(s).

2. (50 points) In this question you are asked to build personas and their goals by interviewing a large number of users. For example if you were to study who is using a given MP3 player, you will interview as many users of this player as possible to create a composit picture of a typical user (persona).
First pick an item or service you would like to know more about. This can be a certain type of car, any kind of appliance (phone, stereo equipment, cooking equipment), fashion items, or a certain type of restaurant. The main requirement is for you to be able to interview more than 10 people about this item in one week.

1. (30 points) Breifly describe the item you picked, and the reason behind your choice. Then explain:
1. How you selected the people you interviewed. You should be careful to explain why you think that the population you picked will be representative of the typical users of the item you picked.
2. When, where and how the interview took place;
3. The list of topics you discussed about, why these topics were discussed, and what you learned about each topic. Given the large number of respondants, it might be best to present your results as a table, showing for each question how many participants answered in a certain way.
2. (20 points) From the data you gathered, provide a quick desciption of the primary and secondary persona for the item you picked, and thier goals while using this item. Be sure provide a realistic description of the persona and their goals as described in Alan Cooper' reading. Be careful to explain how the data you gathered helped you sketch your persona(s).