Persona method. The persona method is a narrative technique that can be used for the exploration and description of the future use of a building. The method makes use of fictional characters to represent different kinds of building users. Each character (persona) is developed and described in terms of their characteristicssuch as age, function, interests and activities. For a school project, for example, personas may include a teacher, a pupil and a parent. In a hospital, it can be about nurses, patients, visitors and medical staff. The study then explores how each of these personas might think and act in the future and how that would translate into their needs with regard to the building.The persona method can be of particular use in projects where the buildings actual users are not yet knownthink of a speculative office project or a large hospital project that will only be finished after many years. The personas act as substitutes for the real users. But the method is also useful in participative processes with real-life users because hypothetical personas help to make discussion more generic and less tied to specific people.A common format for a persona story is to start with a description of the persona in terms of age, gender, function and their main activities or interests. The next step is often to describe a day in the life of . This is a chronological account of the personas activities on an average day, at some point in the future. These stories answer questions like: What is the first thing they do when they enter the building? What are their preferred spots in the building? Which spaces do they use and what do they do there? Who do they meet? What technologies and artefacts do they use?Persona stories are fictional, but they should be rooted in reality. Demographic data and user research (e.g. interview outcomes) should be used to develop personas that are both relevant, realistic and recognizable. In the brief itself, the personas can be used for communicative purposes, giving the design team an impression of the buildings future users.Recommendations-Make sure that the people working on the persona method have good writing skills.If not well-written, persona descriptions can easily become somewhat silly.-Keep persona stories short, but rich in detail to make them credible.-Gather data (from interviews, workshops, scenario studies, desk research) as input for the stories, making sure that they are grounded in reality.-Consider asking users to develop their own stories, which can then be used to build up more generic stories.-Link personas to scenario studies (see page 113) as a means to illustrate and explain possible future ways of using the building.