A Treasure Chest of Online Identities, Including Avatars and Personas

1
A Treasure Chest of Online Identities, Including
Avatars and Personas

• Dr. Chris Birchak
• Dr. Jean DeWitt
• University of Houston-Downtown

2
persona

• Etymology
• Etruscan word phersu for mask or character
• Latin for mask or character
• Psychology (Goffman)
• Mask or appearance presented to the world
• Interface Design Field
• Hypothetical-user archetype guiding decisions
  about visual design, functionality, and content

3
design tools

• Ethnographic interviews with real people
• Workflow, behavior patterns, goals, and attitudes
• Personalizing biography with fictional
  additions
• One to two page narrative for each persona
• Small persona set for market segment

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum (1999) by Alan
Cooper
4
virtual identity

• E-learning
• Gaming

5
online courses

• Virtual world
• Networked community
• Learner-centered
• Relative anonymity

6
user persona

• Age
• Experience
• Major
• Goals

7
author persona

• Credible
• Inviting
• Fair

8
culture

• University
• Distance learning
• Individual course content

9
organizational culture

• Language
• Norms
• Rules
• Social validation
• Leadership
• Measuring results

• Discussion board
• Blog
• Chat room
• Journal
• Wiki
• Podcast

10
context

• High context
• Implicit/understood
• Less formal information
• Situational

11
context

• Low context
• Explicit instructions
• Task-centered
• Detailed information

12
online environments

• Webkinz
• Club Penguin
• River City
• Second Life

13
avatars

• Origins
• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• Avatar virtual simulation of a human in
  Metaverse (fictional Internet)
• Habitat
• Types
• Traditional
• Buddy icons
• Gravatars

14
online role playing

• Participatory
• Problem solving
• Social connection

15
A Treasure Chest of Online Identities, Including
Avatars and Personas

• Dr. Chris Birchak
• Dr. Jean DeWitt
• University of Houston-Downtown