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source/introduction/personas.rst

1	Personas	1		Personas
2	========	2		========
3		3
4	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_all.png	4		Personas are a simple way of grounding your design toward the type of people you consider your software's target user. In your design sessions, you can call out the names of these personas to help you and your team make changes to your software. That way, you can ensure that your design is consistent with KDE visual goals.
5	:scale: 50%	5
6	:alt: All personas of KDE	6		Software that you write will not necessarily satisfy all personas. It should not be the case either that you look to meet every persona's expectations through your software. Instead, focus your efforts into the persona that best meets your target audience and work to strengthen your software toward that KDE-specific audience.
			ngrahamUnsubmitted Done "Personas is" -> "Personas are" or "Personas provide" or "The concept of Personas provides" "specific people with specific characteristics that KDE is looking to achieve" -> maybe something more like "the type of people you consider your software's target user." ngraham: "Personas is" -> "Personas are" or "Personas provide" or "The concept of Personas provides"…
			ngrahamUnsubmitted Done This comment still hasn't been addressed yet. ngraham: This comment still hasn't been addressed yet.
		7
		8		KDE Personas: Background
		9		------------------------
		10
		11		The question "Why should people switch to KDE?" was an important factor
		12		in the creation of our Personas – a crucial aspect if we want to extend
		13		the current user base. The "Technology Adoption Lifecycle" by Rogers
		14		(1962) deals with this question by splitting the overall user base in
		15		groups along a bell curve according to their willingness to adopt new
		16		technology.
		17
		18		Looking at the "Technology Adoption Lifecycle", you'll find the
		19		following user groups:
		20
		21		.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_tal.png
		22		:scale: 30%
		23		:alt: Technology Adoption Lifecycle
		24
		25		We suggest to move away from the KDE is for everybody approach to *KDE
		26		is for the more sophisticated 50% of computer users out there, who
		27		choose it because it perfectly suits their work and that they "want to
		28		have it".*
		29
		30		Concentrating on this user base rather than everybody has both pragmatic
		31		and motivational reasons: Pragmatically, it will be hard to make KDE a
		32		favourite product for laggards and even the late majority within the
		33		next five years. Neither cutting away functionality nor hiding all the
		34		complexity behind Advanced buttons is an acceptable solution. Second,
		35		creating a desktop for ambitious users better fits the current
		36		motivation in the KDE development base. We don't want to be *simple and
		37		limited*, we want to develop a smart desktop with rich functionality!
		38
		39		To avoid misunderstandings: KDE will still be an option for educational,
			ngrahamUnsubmitted Done "stupid" -> "limited" ngraham: "stupid" -> "limited"
		40		governmental or large enterprise usage – but it won't be the main focus
		41		when developing the default desktop. KDE as a configurable set of tools can
		42		still be adjusted to meet the needs of any other user base.
7		43
			ngrahamUnsubmitted Done "framework" -> "set of tools" ("framework" has a specific technical meaning in KDE) ngraham: "framework" -> "set of tools" ("framework" has a specific technical meaning in KDE)
8	Berna	44		Berna
9	-----	45		-----
10		46
11	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_1_office.png	47		.. image:: /img/Berna.jpg
12	:scale: 50%	48		:scale: 50%
13	:alt: Berna	49		:alt: Berna
		50		:align: left
14		51
15	Berna is working as an office clerk in a big insurance. Although a smart	52		Berna works as an office clerk in a big insurance company. Although she is a very smart
16	person, she is very unsure when it comes to technology.	53		person, she is very often unsure how technology can help her.
17		54
18	Berna's major work is to check the details of insured events. She writes	55		Berna's biggest daily task is to check on the details of insurance claims. She writes
19	reports for her boss suggesting compensation payouts for the cases she	56		reports for her boss suggesting compensation payouts for the cases she
20	deals with. Berna is a very precise person, and always solves her tasks	57		deals with. Berna is a very detail oriented individual, and always resolves her tasks accurately.
21	accurately.
22		58
23	Berna twice lost several hours of work because she didn't understand the	59		Berna lost several hours of work twice because she didn't understand the
24	options she was offered. Since then, she has been very careful when	60		options she was offered with technology. Since then, she has been very careful when testing new functionality in the software she uses. She prefers to keep things simple.
25	probing new functionality.
26		61
27	Matt	62		Matt
28	----	63		----
29		64
30	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_2_student.png	65		.. image:: /img/Matt.jpg
31	:scale: 50%	66		:scale: 50%
32	:alt: Matt	67		:alt: Matt
		68		:align: left
33		69
34	Matt is a geology student in the last year of his undergraduate studies.	70		Matt is a geology student in the last year of his undergraduate studies.
35	For him, technology is meant to take over annoying and repetitive tasks.	71		For him, technology is meant to simplify annoying and repetitive tasks.
36		72
37	For his student research projects, Matt has to do extensive research on	73		For his student research projects, Matt has to do extensive research on
38	the web, and has to manage pictures of stones and other geologic	74		the web, and has to manage a database of pictures of stones and other geologic materials. He gains credits by using his notes to create reports and presentations.
39	material. He gains credits by using his notes to create reports and
40	presentations.
41		75
42	Matt often struggles to keep track of all his notes. He is looking for	76		Matt often struggles to keep track of all his notes. He is looking for
43	an effective routine, so he can concentrate on the contents rather than	77		an effective routine, so he can concentrate on the content rather than
44	on finding information.	78		on finding information.
45		79
46	Susan	80		Susan
47	-----	81		-----
48		82
49	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_3_recreational.png	83		.. image:: /img/Susan.jpg
50	:scale: 50%	84		:scale: 50%
51	:alt: Susan	85		:alt: Susan
		86		:align: left
52		87
53	While Susan seldom uses her computer for work, it has become an	88		While Susan seldom uses her computer for work, it has become an
54	essential part of her social life. With her computer, she can be	89		essential part of her social life. With her computer, she can be
55	creative and spread this creativity in the world.	90		creative and spread this creativity to the world.
56		91
57	She chats with her friends, shares music, playlists and other media,	92		She chats with her friends, shares music, playlists and other media,
58	creates videos and uploads them to her web space, and runs a blog with	93		creates videos and uploads them to her web space, and runs a blog with
59	her own style. She can't imagine a life without her laptop.	94		her own style. She can't imagine a life without her laptop.
60		95
61	Still, she is a fun person and does not want to worry about technical	96		She is a fun person and does not want to worry about technical
62	details. She expects her machine to work.	97		details. She expects her machine to work.
63		98
64	Santiago	99		Santiago
65	--------	100		--------
66		101
67	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_4_decision.png	102		.. image:: /img/Santiago.jpg
68	:scale: 50%	103		:scale: 50%
69	:alt: Santiago	104		:alt: Santiago
		105		:align: left
70		106
71	Santiago runs a medium-sized business for electric installations. For	107		Santiago runs a medium-sized electric installations business. For
72	him, technology needs to be comfortable and make him feel smart.	108		him, technology needs to be comfortable and make him feel smart.
73		109
74	As a manager with engineering background, Santiago's major work is to	110		As a manager with an engineering background, Santiago's main task is customer negotiations. However, to avoid costs, he is the administrator for the small network at the company, including a file server and
75	negotiate with customers. However, to avoid costs, he administrates the
76	small network in the company himself, including a file server and
77	fifteen PCs for his office clerks.	111		fifteen PCs for his office clerks.
78		112
79	He loves comfort and does not like to dive into manuals or use the	113		He loves comfort, does not like to dive into manuals or use the
80	command line to set up the small network. The system has to be reliable	114		command line to set up the small network. Santiago relies on the UI to achieve these results. The system has to be reliable and easy to use, so his employees get along with it.
81	and easy to use, so his employees get along with it.
82		115
83	Philip	116		Philip
84	------	117		------
85		118
86	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_personas_5_geek.png	119		.. image:: /img/Philip.jpg
87	:scale: 50%	120		:scale: 50%
88	:alt: Philip	121		:alt: Philip
		122		:align: left
89		123
90	Philip is a high-school student in his last grade. Later, he wants to go	124		Philip is a high-school student in his last year. He wants to go
91	to university to study computer science. He loves the challenge of	125		to college to study computer science. He loves the challenge of
92	making technology do what he wants it to do.	126		making technology do what he wants it to do.
93		127
94	When he was 14, he started to probe different programming languages, and	128		When he was 14, he tried different programming languages, and
95	since then has implemented various different applications he published	129		since then has implemented various applications he published
96	under free licenses. He is convinced of Linux and the benefits of free	130		under free licenses. He is convinced that Linux is the way to go and understands the benefits of free software.
97	software.
98		131
99	Philip is fancy about technology and is never discouraged if something	132		Philip is fancy about technology and is never discouraged if something
100	does not work as expected.	133		does not work as expected. He feels that as a power user he can fix technical issues himself.
101
102
103	KDE Personas: Background
104	------------------------
105
106	The question "Why should people switch to KDE?" was an important factor
107	in the creation of our Personas – a crucial aspect if we want to extend
108	the current user base. The "Technology Adoption Lifecycle" by Rogers
109	(1962) deals with this question by splitting the overall user base in
110	groups along a bell curve according to their willingness to adopt new
111	technology.
112
113	Looking at the "Technology Adoption Lifecycle", you'll find the
114	following user groups:
115
116	.. image:: /img/Introduction_KDE4_Vision_tal.png
117	:scale: 50%
118	:alt: Technology Adoption Lifecycle
119
120	We suggest to move away from the KDE is for everybody approach to *KDE
121	is for the more sophisticated 50% of computer users out there, who
122	choose it because it perfectly suits their work and that they "want to
123	have it".*
124
125	Concentrating on this user base rather than everybody has both pragmatic
126	and motivational reasons: Pragmatically, it will be hard to make KDE a
127	favourite product for laggards and even the late majority within the
128	next five years. Neither cutting away functionality nor hiding all the
129	complexity behind Advanced buttons is an acceptable solution. Second,
130	creating a desktop for ambitious users better fits the current
131	motivation in the KDE development base. We don't want to be *simple and
132	stupid*, we want to develop a smart desktop with rich functionality!
133
134	To avoid misunderstandings: KDE will still be an option for educational,
135	governmental or large enterprise usage – but it won't be the main focus
136	when developing the default desktop. KDE as a configurable framework can
137	still be adjusted to meet the needs of any other user base.