Personality tests

MA User Experience DesignUntold Retold
Written By Claire Burn

As part of my MA in User Experience Design, I co-designed an Augmented Reality (AR) experience platform prototype.

This blog post is part of the reflective piece I wrote to accompany it.

Co-creative design and development practice is a module that involves working together as a team of students to produce a small game or creative app. So the focus this week is team formation.

Since there is some evidence suggesting teams benefit from a balance of different personality types (Kichuk and Wiesner, 1997; Clinebell and Stecher, 2003), we have been tasked with completing a personality test, reflect on the results and share them.

My test and results

I'm definitely a skeptic when it comes to personality types and things like that. As a result, I don't tend to take the results from them very seriously.

However, I do think they're fun to do and a good conversation starter. I took the Myers-Briggs test on the 16 Personalities site and it told me I am an ESFP (Entertainer) personality type (16 Personalities 2022). According to the site, I “love vibrant experiences, engaging in life eagerly and taking pleasure in discovering the unknown” (16 Personalities 2022).

My thoughts and reflection

In my spare time, I dance (dancehall, salsa, kizomba and whatever else I fancy trying) and I sing in a band (mostly pop punk covers). So the "Entertainer" descriptor is probably quite apt. However, I also need time doing quiteter things on my own that aren't as showy. This part of my personality doesn't fit the description as neatly.

It lists my strengths as:

  • Bold

  • Original

  • Aesthetics and showmanship

  • Practical

  • Observant

  • Excellent people skills

I agree with more of these, although I don't think my people skills are as good as the site suggests. I often forget to ask people how they have been and I forget whatever they've previously told me is going on in their lives. This sometimes comes across as uninterested. I've also been told that I can be aloof, however I think this is more about times when I've felt awkward and shy.

It lists my weaknesses as:

  • Sensitive

  • Conflict-averse

  • Easily bored

  • Poor long-term planner

  • Unfocused

I think these are more accurate than I'd like to admit! And it's definitely helpful to be more aware of this and reflect on it, going into a collaborative module! I'd better let my team know...

  • 16PERSONALITIES. 2022. ‘Entertainer’. Available at: https://www.16personalities.com/esfp-personality [Accessed 3 July 2022].

    CLINEBELL, Sharon and Mary STECHER. 2003. ‘Teaching Teams to Be Teams: An Exercise Using the Myers-Briggs® Type Indicator and the Five-Factor Personality Traits’. Journal of management education 27(3), 362–83.

    KICHUK, Susan L. and Willi H. WIESNER. 1997. ‘The big five personality factors and team performance: implications for selecting successful product design teams’. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. 14 (3-4). Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923474897000106 [Accessed: 3 July 2022].

Thank you for reading.

If you liked this, you might enjoy reading the full Untold Retold case study in my portfolio or exploring the blog posts below.

Claire Burn
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