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Contextual Personas - A Method for Capturing the Digital Work Environment of Users

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Sense, Feel, Design (INTERACT 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 13198))

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Abstract

It can be hard to understand the context in which a software system is used and how the whole work environment affects the usage of a particular system. In this project, we modified the Persona method to include aspects of the digital work environment and the context to extend the understanding of these aspects during software development. The modified version of the Persona method is based on the traditional Persona method, on theories on healthy work and research on the digital work environment. The objective of proposing the modifications of the method is to give software developers more insights into the complexity of the digital work environment. University students tried the modified Contextual Persona method in a user-centred software development course. Students worked on designing a new system for 12 weeks using the Contextual Persona method during the fourth week of software development. The students gave feedback on what positive and negative aspects they experienced while using the modified Contextual Persona method and their thoughts on how the method could be improved. In the paper, we analyse reports from 30 students and summarise the feedback gathered. We conclude by summarising the possible improvements to the method based on our findings.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank AFA Insurance in Sweden for the financial support to conduct this research project under the name STRIA - Software Development for a Better Work Environment (grant number 180250). Also, we would like to thank all informants in the study that took their time to participate in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reykjavik University, Menntavegur 1, 101, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Marta Lárusdóttir

  2. Uppsala University, P.O. Box 256, 751 05, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ruochen Wang & Åsa Cajander

Authors
  1. Marta Lárusdóttir
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  2. Ruochen Wang
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  3. Åsa Cajander
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marta Lárusdóttir .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Ardito

  2. University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Rosa Lanzilotti

  3. Computer Science Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Alessio Malizia

  4. Reykjavik University, Reykjavik, Iceland

    Marta Larusdottir

  5. University of Cagliari, Caglieri, Italy

    Lucio Davide Spano

  6. Department of Information, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    José Campos

  7. Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Morten Hertzum

  8. Fachbereich Informatik, Trier University of Applied Sciences, Trier, Germany

    Tilo Mentler

  9. ITI/Larsys, University of West London, London, UK

    José Abdelnour Nocera

  10. Knowledge Media Institute, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Lara Piccolo

  11. University of Paderborn, Paderborn, Germany

    Stefan Sauer

  12. Faculty of Sciences, Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerrit van der Veer

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Lárusdóttir, M., Wang, R., Cajander, Å. (2022). Contextual Personas - A Method for Capturing the Digital Work Environment of Users. In: Ardito, C., et al. Sense, Feel, Design. INTERACT 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13198. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98388-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98388-8_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-98387-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-98388-8

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