Style Studies: Adopting Personas in Fashion Design Pedagogy through Use of Social Media Web Applications with Real Consumers

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this research is to explore an innovative approach to adopting personas in fashion design pedagogy through use of social media web applications with real consumers. Based on observations, students in previous fashion design courses seem to have limited experience designing for someone other than themselves or their peers who have similar aesthetic preferences. By bringing real consumers into the design process to serve as personas, the goal of this project was for students to develop a greater understanding of their target market and consider the consumer lifestyle as the focal point of their design processes. The website, stylestudies.weebly.com, was created by the researchers for this project to enhance communication between students and their specified target consumers.</p>