HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-III, 2007-2008
Human Computer Interaction
 
 
Caution: Stereotypes Under Construction
Guest Author: Janea Triplett
About HCI VISTAS
INDEX
Article INS-27./Aug 2007
<< >>

Now that I have your attention, I'll tell you up front that what Janea follows is not a rant. It's not even a statement for or against Triplett political correctness. It's a caution-- words of warning about the creation of personas and the practice of user profiling. Even if one calls it the development of an archetype or ideal type, it is still a stereotype.
 
In defense of personas
As presented in Chapter 7 of Observing the User Experience, [1] user profiling was an important tool in helping designers imagine, design for and communicate about real people. I found numerous articles praising and describing persona creation:
  • "The Origin of Personas", by Cooper: "programmers could . . . identify with these hypothetical archetypes." [2]
  • "Perfecting your Persona", by Goodwin: "synthesized from a series of ethnographic interviews with real people" [3]

Origin of stereotypes
We are all familiar with the contemporary meaning of the word-- ideas held about members of a group solely based on membership in that group. But, let's step back in time. Interestingly, the word stereotype was first used as a technological term meaning "a method for printing from a plate." [5] Over 100 years later in 1922, the word stereotype took on its more common sociological meaning of a "picture in our heads."

Pictures in our heads
So, how do we get these pictures in our heads? Family, friends, society, education, travel, movies, . . . The list goes on and on. Some pictures get into our heads from first hand experiences. Other images we borrow second hand. Let's try an experiment. Think of a map and envision the state where you live. Now, look at this map [6] and find your home.
 
Did it take you a little longer to find your home state? Did you feel a little disoriented? This is why we need to be cautious about creating personas and user profiles.
 
The information around us, our past conditioning,
influences our current thinking and our vision of the world.
Maybe certain details don't make a difference, but what if they do?
What if our world view conditions us in such a way that we miss important insights?
 
The profiler gets profiled
I ran across an article, "Four approaches to user modelling," [7] that I have been saving for the User Profiling chapter. I found it almost ironic that while we were discussing creating user profiles, this article was creating profiles of HCI professions.
 
The researcher created four ideal types of the HCI professional. These ideal types were labeled: (1) bridge builder, (2) analyst, (3) programmer, and (4) designer. Because of the educational background, professional networks, and work experience, these ideal types were then more likely to think about and categorize users in a certain way.
 
Counteracting stereotypes
After the article stereotyped the HCI professional into four ideal types, the question was then asked if HCI professionals stereotype users. The answer was "probably." The reasons given were our "schematic thinking." Our background conditions us to look at the world in certain ways. The article suggested several methods for counteracting stereotypes: (1) to create cross-functional teams, (2) to incorporate more training and education, and (3) to provide opportunities to interact with real users.
 
Turning your world upside-down
My suggestions for counteracting stereotypes are less academic. They're simple; and yes, they're kind of silly. Once a month or better yet, once a week, do something out of the ordinary. So here goes. Janea's tips for turning your world upside-down:
 
1. Listen to music that you would not normally listen to.
 
2. Watch a film in another language without the subtitles turned on.
 
3. Eat foods that you've never tried before and if you normally eat with a fork, try the meal without utensils.
 
4. Talk to strangers (but keep safe).
 
5. Dress in an unusual item or wear a funky color and observe how you're treated.
 
6. Ride a bus, train, limo, bike or walk to work-- just travel and arrive by something different.
 
7. Try to learn something new-- a language, a craft, a recipe, a person, a pet.
 
You get the idea. By putting ourselves into unusual situations we hopefully add new images into our heads. These valuable first-hand experiences may help to reduce our tendency of taking the cognitive shortcut of stereotyping. They may even help to reorient our vision of the world.
 
 
References
[1] Mike Kuniavsky. Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's Guide to User Research. Morgan Kaufman, San Diego, 2003. isbn 1-55860-923-7.

[2] Alan Cooper. The origin of personas. Journal of Design, 2003.
http://www.cooper.com/insights/journal_of_design/articles/the_origin_of_personas_1.html
 

[3] Kim Goodwin. Perfecting your personas. Journal of Design, 2001.
 
[4] Dinesh S. Katre. User persona: Its application and the art of stereotyping. HCI Vistas, 2, February 2007.
 
[5] Wikipedia. Stereotype etymology, 2007.
 
[7] T. Clemmensen. Four approaches to user modelling--a qualitative research interview study of HCI professionals' practice. Interacting with Computers, 16(4):799--829, August 2004.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
 
This article is already published as part of Shiny Happy Users. It has been re-published on HCI Vistas with author's due permission.
Janea Triplett is a doctoral student in Human Computer Interaction at Iowa State University. Her background is eclectic. In the early 90s she stumbled into Web development. A decade later, she returned to school to pursue studies in anthropology, business, language, and sociology. As a volunteer consultant, she has worked in Africa and southeast Asia on systems design and small business development. Her research interests include health information systems, assistive technology, geographic information systems, and technology and social change. Contact information rdtrip@iastate.edu
 

Feedback at
Contribute Articles To
© Copyright 2007-2008