While working on a speculative design project, the need to create intricate user personas arose. The project required more than your average, run-of-the-mill John and Jane Doe's, it required a Social Microcosm. A number of people from different levels of society, of different ages, professions and qualifications, yet all fitting into a single complete social tapestry.
This led to the creation of ten people, each with their own hopes, dreams, habits and stories, from different places in India, different communities, faiths and philosophies, but all linked to each other in everyday ways,
each forming the social backdrop to the others lives.
After fleshing them out, and writing intricate back-stories for each character, they were all visualised and illustrated.
Later, numerous exercises and brainstorming sessions made use of these characters, and their points-of-view, their preferences and peculiarities, and they all played a role in crafting a final design solution. They proved to be an invaluable resource both for generating new concepts, and for illustrating scenarios.
