Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Design Introduction to Wireframing How to Make Wireframes on Paper Demonstration of Wireframing on Paper

kit sindel
kit sindel
977 Points

my Queston is, for the wireframing. why are we creating fake profiles for people instead of using real people?

I would like to know why we are making fake user profiles for this? Is this due to stage of the design? or is it to help visualize? for who for me or a team? I want to know why we are doing this? is it just to explain a wireframe? if so then the multiple users and jumping around make this very very hard to follow. it should be one thing and one person as an example. the framing for this video makes it super hard to see what im supposed to be following. the fake profile, how its working on the framework? why are we not following the single user to the end. why not just go over the design elements of the wireframe without throwing in these users. I get that there are a lot of things to take into account, but this is a very confusing way to do so.

kit sindel
kit sindel
977 Points

i guess my issues is more that most of the video has no wireframe in it so why go over things that just make it confusing?

1 Answer

Daniel Montgomery
seal-mask
STAFF
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse Staff

Hey there, kit sindel In the early stages of this course, the goal was to present the student with an array of tools for their toolkit to help inform their design decisions and strategy. UX Design is about much more than just the UI (user interface) or visual elements you draw, wireframe, mockup, and prototype.

Personas are invaluable tools in UX design, serving multiple crucial functions. They keep the focus on real user needs and behaviors, help build empathy with the target audience, aid in prioritizing features, provide consistency across the design team, and enable effective scenario testing. By creating detailed profiles of potential users, designers can make informed decisions that lead to more user-friendly and effective products.

Designing without understanding the target users can result in numerous problems. These include misaligned features, poor user experiences, increased development costs, lower adoption rates, lack of focus, difficulty in decision-making, and ineffective marketing. By utilizing personas, UX designers can avoid these pitfalls and create products that truly meet user needs and expectations, ultimately leading to more successful and user-centered designs.

Daniel Montgomery
seal-mask
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree seal-36
Daniel Montgomery
Treehouse Staff

Oh, and to answer why are the personas made up. Personas are typically based on real users when available, such as for existing products or services. However, for new startups or hypothetical projects without an existing user base, designers create fictional personas. These are informed by market research, competitor analysis, and anticipated user needs. While using data from actual users is ideal, carefully crafted fictional personas can still provide valuable insights for guiding the design process when real user data isn't available.