Role

People act out different “roles,” depending on the setting. A person’s role shapes their concerns and motivates their actions. For example, a woman may be a mother, a champion poker player, a volunteer referee for a community soccer league, and a wife. When acting as a champion poker player, she is not likely to be concerned about packing lunches for the kids. When she is acting primarily as a wife, she will use different words to express her feelings to her spouse that are very different than those she would use as a referee. Design outcomes are more effective if they support the role a person is playing.