Author: Karan Negi

Persona | Glossary

Karan Negi Leave a comment

Definition

A Persona, defines a typical user who interacts with the system. The idea is to design software effectively for people, who are intended to interact with it. Personas are different in nature than ‘Actors’. Unlike Actors,  Personas are not ‘roles’ that people play.

Personas differ in nature, because they are descriptive of archetypes, instead of actors. For example, in a used case model we would have a customer as the actor. In personas however, we would describe several different types of customers, and help bring their vision to life. Usually, it is commonplace for 1-2 pages to be written for each Persona. Since, the goal is to bring your users to life, a good Persona is recommended to be highly personalized.

Further Reading

  •  “Agile Software Architecture: Chapter 4. Driving Architectural Design and Preservation from a Persona Perspective in Agile Projects”(book), by by Jane Cleland-Huang ,‎ Adam Czauderna ,‎ Mehdi Mirakhorli .

Nominal Group Technique | Glossary

Karan Negi Leave a comment

Definition

Nominal Group Technique is an alternative to regular brainstorming. This technique is a structured variation of discussion methods regarding small groups. The process prevents a single person from dominating the discussion, and encourages group members that are more passive to participate. It eventually results in a set of prioritized recommendations and corresponding solutions.

The process involves dividing people into small groups of 5 and 6 members. They are seated around a table, and are encouraged to state an open ended question. Each person individually then spends several minutes in silence ideating and jotting down their ideas. The group then collects the ideas and shares them in a round-robin method. All are recorded in key terms on a flipchart Clarification. Each person then evaluates the ideas anonymously. Votes are then shared within the group, and a report in prepared. Then time is allowed for brief group presentations.

Further Reading

  •  “Group Techniques for Program Planning: A Guide to Nominal Group and Delphi Processes” (book), by by Andre L. Delbecq ,‎ Andrew H. Van De Ven ,‎ and David H. Gustafson.