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Subject:RE: Are you using personas? (take II) From:"Miller, Alan" <Alan -dot- Miller -at- prometric -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 31 Jan 2003 12:22:17 -0500
Jim:
I see your point. However, I wonder why the SME needs to know anything about "personas" to answer a tech writer's questions. If the SME needs to frame his/her/its answers to be understanable for some specific user, isn't he/she/it doing the tech writer's job?
The way I see it, it's my job to ask questions of the SMEs and theirs to answer. It's then up to me to figure out what the answers mean and how to use the information. If the SMEs use "personas" to design and develop the product, then I need to know that and figure it into my work. If I can't ask a clear question that elicits an answer from the SME that I can use, I ain't doing my job and deserve a dope-slap.
Like you, we don't use them either.
Al Miller
"Chief Documentation Curmudgeon"
Prometric, a part of The Thomson Corporation
Baltimore, Maryland
Everything is funny as long as it happens to someone else.
-- Will Rogers
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Shaeffer [mailto:jims -at- spsi -dot- com]
Sent: Fri 1/31/2003 9:47 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Cc:
Subject: RE: Are you using personas? (take II)
A persona would resolve the problem that arises when the
SME you are talking to does not know the user that you are
talking about.
A persona (or personas) should simplify this communication
problem.
(Caveat: We don't use personas, and probalbly won't. Our
products have been targeting the same users for about 15
years now and we all know what to expect of them.)
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