Summary

Persona analysis provides a compelling method of focusing the requirements for any new product. The technique works best when it’s applied early in the project life cycle, because it tends to drive the requirements. On the mapplet project, the technique was applied early in release 2 (the first release being a prototype), and the result was that some useful requirements were identified that might otherwise have been missed.

Interaction design isn’t just about designing the “look” of a user interface. It’s also about designing the behavior—determining how the UI will behave and respond to user inputs. This is why interaction design and use cases work so well together, especially when combined with personas.