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Marginalized Group Persona

Group Assignment
Figma Design

Purpose

Develop a user persona for a project website. Teams will explore how bias can impact web development and influence the decision of a user experience team.

Instructions

Ideally, personas should be based on user research, so do your best as a team to develop a persona based on the experience of your UX team, online research, or through people you can connect with. Combat assumptions as best as you can.

Part 1: Reading

Read the two articles below individually.

Part 2: Group Collaboration

  1. CHOOSE a marginalized group for your user persona from the list below or choose another marginalized group. A marginalized population is a group or community that experiences discrimination and exclusion (social, political, and economic) because of unequal power relationships across economic, political, social, and cultural dimensions. The most common marginalized groups today include:

    • LGBTQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (questioning), asexual, and agender)
    • Senior citizens
    • Racial/Cultural minorities
    • Military Combat Veterans
    • Persons of below-average intelligence
    • Hearing, visually, and physically challenged persons
    • Persons with a serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI)
    • Persons with cognitive impairments
    • Neurodivergent individuals

  2. BRAINSTORM as a team about how this group may experience the Web (especially your project website) and come up with a list of goals and frustrations this group may experience.

  3. BUILD the persona in Figma that realistically represents this user group with the provided template.

    1. In Figma, double-click on your Project 1 Design file.
    2. Click on the 04. Personas page.
    3. In your teams, develop the first of the two required personas for Project 1. For Project 1, your team must complete the second User Persona (it does not need to be based on a marginalized group).

    4. Use the provided template to include the following items:

      • Photo (see Stock Photograph resources in your Figma Design file)
      • Name
      • Archetype
      • User quote
      • Short biography
      • Demographics (age, career, salary, location, family)
      • At least 3 personality traits
      • At least 3 hobbies
      • The level of technological experience in desktop and mobile devices, social media, and overall technical skill.
      • At least 4 goals the user has on the Web in general or specifically for your Project 1 website genre
      • At least 4 frustrations the user has on the Web in general or specifically for your Project 1 website genre

Submission

Only 1 Team Member needs to submit group assignments. Blackboard will send out an email to all group members notifying them of successful submission.

  1. Export the completed Persona as a PDF from Figma.
  2. Open the Week 3 folder in Blackboard
  3. Click on the Marginalized Group Persona submission link.
  4. Under Attach Files, click the Browse Local Files to find, select and upload your PDF document.
  5. Click Submit.

Grading Criteria

Points Possible: 4

  • Persona Characteristics Persona brings to life a traditionally marginalized user group. A vivid and narrative description of this fictitious person demonstrates time and research was involved in creating the attitudes, goals, and behaviors of the user it represents. (2 pts)

  • Goals & Frustrations Goals and frustrations relate to Web experiences or ties directly to the project website genre. Demonstrates the team reflected and considered the unique perspectives of a marginalized group. (2 pts)