Rigorous and always from the heart: what personas did in the process of designing a youth care facility

Architects use scenario-based design (SBD) to design for diversity, employing instruments like personas and scenarios. The development and use of personas has been subject to debate; these instruments are critiqued for missing either rigour or heart. We contribute to this debate through a reflective case-study on what personas did in the process of designing a care facility. We examine a yearlong collaboration between architectural researchers and a youth care organization. Next to our own perspective as researchers, the analysis considers that of the endusers (children/youth and staff), the client and the architects. Our exploration of different perspectives shows that personas – their aspects and situations – must be recognizable beyond mere representation. While initially influential, the personas seemed less capable of steering design propositions beyond current use. Insight into how these instruments (and SBD in general) affect stakeholders’ involvement and the design process can shift discussions about rigour and heart, balancing what is important in development and usage. Rigour and heart, in this context, do not exclude one another.