When does it make sense to create an antipersona?
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2024 5:02 am
Not every misuse of a product is equally dangerous, risky, or complex to justify creating an antipersona. The process of creating an antipersona takes time and resources, and is therefore only worthwhile if the benefits outweigh the costs .
For example, a luxury hotel may occasionally receive calls from people who cannot afford to stay there. It would probably not be necessary to create an antipersona for these users, as the cost of handling these calls is likely to be much less than creating an antipersona and using it to find a solution to prevent these calls.
Typically, creating an antipersona makes sense if your product or service:
works with sensitive information that, if inadvertently disclosed, could iran telemarketing jeopardize the success of users or the company (typically, e.g., fraud, identity theft, harassment, disinformation, illegal content)
poses a potential physical or emotional threat to people (e.g., injury or death as a direct result of product misuse).
If there is a possibility that these harms will occur as a direct result of someone using the product, there should be one or more antipersonas that would represent that risk. When determining whether it is worth creating an antipersona, always consider the possibility of such misuse and its consequences. Even a misuse that is very unlikely may be worth creating an antipersona if its consequences are extreme.
What information should an antipersona contain?
Like personas, antipersonas are schematic representations of a group of people. Unlike personas, which are used to build empathy with target users, antipersonas are intended to provide product design teams and companies with an awareness of the key risks they should be working to mitigate. As well as potential paths and guidance on how to mitigate them.
The antipersona should contain
Name and Face
Providing a name and face helps frame the antipersona as a real threat and increases its memorability.
Goal
The goal is the most important component of an antipersona and should be a description of the threat rather than an explanation of why it is occurring. In the safe example, the antipersona is a thief and their goal is to steal valuables from the safe.
For example, a luxury hotel may occasionally receive calls from people who cannot afford to stay there. It would probably not be necessary to create an antipersona for these users, as the cost of handling these calls is likely to be much less than creating an antipersona and using it to find a solution to prevent these calls.
Typically, creating an antipersona makes sense if your product or service:
works with sensitive information that, if inadvertently disclosed, could iran telemarketing jeopardize the success of users or the company (typically, e.g., fraud, identity theft, harassment, disinformation, illegal content)
poses a potential physical or emotional threat to people (e.g., injury or death as a direct result of product misuse).
If there is a possibility that these harms will occur as a direct result of someone using the product, there should be one or more antipersonas that would represent that risk. When determining whether it is worth creating an antipersona, always consider the possibility of such misuse and its consequences. Even a misuse that is very unlikely may be worth creating an antipersona if its consequences are extreme.
What information should an antipersona contain?
Like personas, antipersonas are schematic representations of a group of people. Unlike personas, which are used to build empathy with target users, antipersonas are intended to provide product design teams and companies with an awareness of the key risks they should be working to mitigate. As well as potential paths and guidance on how to mitigate them.
The antipersona should contain
Name and Face
Providing a name and face helps frame the antipersona as a real threat and increases its memorability.
Goal
The goal is the most important component of an antipersona and should be a description of the threat rather than an explanation of why it is occurring. In the safe example, the antipersona is a thief and their goal is to steal valuables from the safe.