Poor poor dumb mouths, and bid them speak for me: Theorizing the use of personas in practice

Emma J. Rose ; Josh Tenenberg University of Washington Tacoma

Abstract

Although personas are commonly used to represent users in design, their rhetorical function has been little explored. In this article, the authors theorize personas’ rhetorical function as ventriloquization, where one person speaks with the voice of another. In ventriloquizing users through personas, practitioners speak for users, while scripting personas to speak for their creators: each magnifies the others’ voice. Personas represent a strategic rhetorical gambit for gaining legitimacy within organizations and technological decision-making processes.

Journal
Technical Communication Quarterly
Published
2018-04-03
DOI
10.1080/10572252.2017.1386005
Open Access
Closed

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (2)

  1. Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Technical Communication Quarterly
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