User-Centred Design (UCD) methodologies have been increasingly used during the past decade to develop software applications and products that are tailored to the needs of individuals and allow for human computer interactions on emotional and psychological levels. UCD designers and developers need to have special abilities and training to design products that meet the demands of users. This paper presents novel techniques to identify talented aspiring designers in UCD methodologies. Twenty-three undergraduate students, studying at a research-intensive metropolitan Australian university, participated in this study. Participants completed a spatial ability test, answered personality trait questionnaires and performed a design activity. Our results indicate that students who score high in the imagination personality factor and spatial ability tests are talented aspiring UCD designers. The implication of our study is that talented students who can design using UCD methodologies can be identified early in their studies and they can benefit by receiving advanced training. Likewise the less talented students can be given extra tutoring as abilities are not immutable and, interest and persistence is important in achieving expertise.

Conceptual design is an important skill in Software Engineering. Teaching conceptual design that can deliver a useful product is challenging, particularly when access to real users is limited. This study explores the effects of the use of Holistic Personas (i.e. a persona enriched with personality traits) on students' performance in creating conceptual designs. Our results indicate that the students were able to identify the personality traits of personas and their ratings of the personalities match closely with the intended personalities. A majority of the participants stated that their designs were tailored to meet the needs of the given personas' personality traits. Results suggest that the Holistic Personas can help students to take into account personality traits in the conceptual design process. Further studies are warranted to assess the value of incorporating Holistic Personas in conceptual design training for imparting skills of producing in-depth design by taking personalities into account.