Selection of Optimal Communication Medium Using Personas

Abstract: This study is concerned with the apparent gap between knowledge management literature and persona creation guidelines. As the authors recognized that the guidelines don’t seem to advise User Experience professionals to present information how users want to see it. The purpose of this study is to explore how UX professionals negotiate optimal communication medium for information representation. Based on the literature, a conceptual framework was created that consists of communication medium, Personas, and information representation that guided our field research. As such, qualitative interviews were conducted with UX professionals. The purpose being, to explore their experiences with using Personas for negotiating communication medium to present information. Key findings are grouped into two categories relating to Personas and Selection of communication medium. Findings have revealed that practitioners intuitively bridge the aforementioned gap. Therefore, in light of these findings, the Persona creation guidelines may include a point addressing the selection of communication medium for information presentation, such that they may be more in line with their practical implementation. Additionally, practitioners may benefit from adopting a more structured approach to selecting communication medium and integrating it with their Personas.