Can Personas Speak? Biopolitics in Design Processes
Kieran Cutting, Erkki Hedenborg · 2019
In this provocation, we problematize the use of personas as an interaction design method. We explore whether the use of personas within design processes prevents meaningful participation, with reference to research with third-sector organizations in the United Kingdom. Personas should help designers and developers to empathize with the people they are designing for, but we find that their use is biopolitical, turning singular experiences into static, reusable design resources. We call for a research agenda focused on the ways design processes prevent participation, encode power relations, and entrench marginalization.