“The diagram above describes the emotional ups and downs identified by study participants as part of the design exercise conducted during in-home visits with participants. Note that the location of the study is less relevant than the importance of observing the participants in the most likely context in which they will engage in their experience with the brand’s product or service. During the exercise, participants are asked to name each of the phases they went through from framing their problem through exploration and finally (hopefully) problem solving, and to then assign a corresponding emotion to each phase.”
This paragraph describes an ethnographic-based approach to use as an intermediary step and deliverable to building personas.
Remember that Personas are not documents but “the process of engaging with users” (Jared Spool, 2008) itself to understand and develop empathy to their context of use. I love the following analogy to explain the difference:
Read the full article written by Will Evans on July 27th, 2009 in the Johnny Holland Magazine (Johnny is an open collective talking, sharing and finding answers about the interaction between people and products, systems or processes.)