Haines, V and Mitchell, V (2014) A persona-based approach to domestic energy retrofit. Building Research & Information, 42(4), pp. 462-476. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
In order to improve the efficiency of the housing stock successfully, the offered technical solutions also need to meet occupants' needs and match their aspirations. Owner-occupiers present particular challenges: conflicting demands on their use of time and financial resources and their role as decision-makers for their own domestic renovation. A persona-driven study (based on user-centred design) was undertaken to explore the varying behaviours, attitudes and motivations towards home improvement for owner-occupiers who live in hard to treat solid-walled dwellings. Five evidence-based personas are constructed that reflect archetypes, based on the outcomes of a qualitative study involving 33 owner-occupier householders in the East Midlands region of the UK. The adoption of a persona-based approach in response to the socio-technical challenges of energy renovation is important for understanding the specific drivers and appropriate range of policy responses for each persona. The persona development process is described and the success of the approach is evaluated in relation to the needs of policy developers, energy providers and product developers. Tailoring strategies to suit different personas will considerably enhance the diffusion of policy goals for low-energy retrofit and also allow business and technology developers to target an appropriate user.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | energy; homeowners; low carbon; motivation; personas; renovation; retrofit; user-centred design |
| Index terms: | evidence, archetype, renovation, homeowner, motivation, low carbon, personas, user-centred design, strategy, qualitative study, owner, energy renovation, housing stock, socio-technical, efficiency |
| Subjects: | research design and methodology, evaluation and assessment methods, modelling and simulation, psychology, performance management, research methods, management, sustainability assessment, renovation and retrofit, user-centred design, industry analysis, sociology |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Sustainability, Design Practice, Quality Management, Human Resources |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here