Objectives:

• Develop: Craft and refine an AI persona for a travel companion app.
• Evaluate: Identify strengths and weaknesses of the persona in supporting the user journey.
• Ideate: Explore the persona's capabilities and potential interactions with users.

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Materials:

• This template
• Markers or pens
• Sticky notes
• Whiteboards or flipcharts (optional)
• Optional: Laptops or tablets for individual work and research

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Timing: 2.5 hours, with flexibility for breaks and discussions.

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Instructions:

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Part 1: Crafting the AI Persona (60 minutes)

• Team Formation: Divide participants into small teams (3-4 members).
• Brainstorming: Each team brainstorms and defines their AI persona, considering the following aspects:

1. Situation & Context: Describe the persona's role, the user interface it's part of, and its target audience.‍

2. Abilities & Functions: Outline the persona's key functionalities in assisting users with travel planning and experiences.

3. Risks & Limitations: Identify potential limitations or risks associated with the persona, such as bias, privacy concerns, or technical limitations.

4. Efficiency: Explain how the persona provides a more efficient and valuable experience compared to a human travel assistant.

• Visual Representation: Encourage teams to visually represent their persona using sketches, mind maps, or other creative methods.
• Group Presentations: Each team presents their AI persona to the larger group, explaining their design choices and rationale.
• Shared Persona: Through voting or group discussion, select one persona to be further developed throughout the workshop.

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Part 2: Mapping the User Journey (60 minutes)

• User Journey Stages: Divide the workshop space into sections representing different stages of the travel journey:

1. Pre-trip Inspiration (e.g., destination discovery, research, planning)

2. In-trip Planning & Experience (e.g., booking, navigation, recommendations)

3. Post-Trip Loyalty & Sharing (e.g., reviews, feedback, sharing experiences)

• Persona Mapping: Participants rotate through the different stages, identifying the persona's:

1. Functions and capabilities at each stage (e.g., suggesting destinations, booking flights, providing local recommendations)

2. Interactions with users (e.g., providing information, answering questions, offering personalised suggestions)

• Sketching functions, capabilities and interactions: Draw low-fidelity prototypes of possible interactions.
• Success & Failure Scenarios: Briefly discuss potential successful interactions and possible failures the persona might encounter at each stage.

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Part 3: Ideating Persona Capabilities (30 minutes)

• Individual Brainstorming: Individually, participants brainstorm in detail about the chosen persona, considering:

1. Tone of Voice: Describe the personality and communication style of the persona.

2. Data Sources: Identify the types of data the persona will access and utilise.

3. Advanced Functions: Explore potential future functionalities or capabilities of the persona beyond its core travel assistance role.

4. Relationship Building: Discuss how the persona can build trust, rapport and positive relationships with users.

• Group Sharing: Participants share their ideas and suggestions, fostering collective brainstorming and refinement of the persona's overall design.

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Wrap-up and Next Steps (15 minutes)

• Summarise the key takeaways from the workshop: defining characteristics, functionalities, and potential of the chosen AI persona.
• Discuss the importance of continuous user research and testing to further refine the persona throughout the development process.
• Share resources for further learning on AI persona design, user experience (UX) principles and chatbot development.
• Encourage participants to reflect on the workshop experience and consider how they can apply their learnings to their own projects.

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Additional Tips:

• Adapt the complexity of the workshop based on the participants' experience level and the desired depth of persona development.
• Encourage creativity and open discussion throughout the workshop.
• Provide examples and case studies of existing AI personas or chatbots to inspire participants.
• Ensure a safe and inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are valued and respected.