yosona – a tool for conversations with ai-personas

Three questions to the project team

What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
The challenge was to determine how AI-personas should be delivered, while considering the different usage requirements that had been identified. The goal was to develop an application that enables continuous user feedback, addresses the target group’s skepticism toward the reliability of AI-generated content and can be integrated into different individual work practices.

What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
A particular highlight was the positive response during user testing to the different display modes for the AI-personas’ answers. Participants reported that these views provided quick orientation and made connections visible, exactly what the feature was intended to achieve. Different display modes were favored by different users, making it especially important to offer flexible, user-selectable options. At the same time, testing revealed a few interface ambiguities, which I was then able to address. An important aha!-moment was realizing that AI-personas should not replace user involvement but instead support and strengthen real user research, as an evolution of classic, static personas rather than a substitute for genuine user research.

Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
Ideally, I see myself as a cofounder of a successful startup that actually brings the project to life. In doing so, it would help ensure that the development of products and services is consistently driven by the user’s perspective, with the clear goal of systematically, transparently and effectively integrating human needs into decision-making processes.

A further focus would be on providing guidance to stakeholders on the appropriate use of AI-personas, as well as on developing additional methods to promote their responsible and effective use.