Specifying the Target Information Technology (IT) Persona

This topic provides sample content describing the specific characteristics of individuals that might drive an organization's purchase of an application. This sample content is one portion of a complete application specification. For an overview, see Creating a Speech Application Specification. See Speech Application Specification Template for a template to use in creating an application specification.

Mark Hanson from Lucerne Publishing

Background

Mark is an Operations Engineer for Lucerne Publishing. He is an IT Generalist and is responsible for everything: managing and troubleshooting networks, servers, operating systems and applications. He describes his role as "a mile wide and an inch deep."

Key characteristics

• Uses Windows products and tools out of the box.
• Interrupt-driven and primarily reactive.
• Reluctant to change a working environment.
• Feels overlooked (no special programs, documentation, or solutions for him).

Pain Point

• "The requirement for specialized knowledge kills me."
• Overwhelmed (lack of time) and in the dark (lack of expertise).
• Keeping up to date with system management, user management, end-user support, data management, and network management.

Design Tenets for Mark

Key design Tenets

• "I view my system as a single entity."
• Mark needs easy access to everything he manages.
• Mark needs a big picture view of the system.
• Mark needs to be able to isolate a problem and drill down.
• Feature 1: Deliver a single integrated solution for system management.

• "I don't have time to learn."
• Mark needs simple tools (GUI is good).
• Mark can learn, but does not have the time. He will learn in context.
• Feature 2: Simply and clearly explain complex tasks so that Mark can do the task in context and learn.
• Feature 3: Have defaults and keep the UI consistent.

• "I rarely see it coming."
• Mark's work style is reactive.
• Mark is often interrupted.
• Mark is juggling a number of balls at once.
• Mark has no time to plan to be proactive.
• Feature 4: Integrate best practices into the task flow to enable Mark to be proactive.

• "I'm successful when my users are happy and able to do their jobs."
• Keeping end users productive is Mark's primary objective.
• Mark will come in after hours if he has a task that will interrupt end-user productivity (for example, perform an upgrade).
• Feature 5: Deliver proactive monitoring tools and automate tasks.

• "I am alone."
• It is up to Mark to keep everything up and running.
• Mark has little knowledge across various parts of the system.
• Mark can't afford to fail. He feels his job is on the line if he cannot fix a problem.
• Mark doesn't really have anyone he can turn to.
• Feature 6: Facilitate a support network external to the product, a peer community for Mark.

• "My boss does not know what I do."
• The company owner doesn't understand technology.
• Mark is in the trenches.
• Feature 7: The solution helps Mark translate his work and its value to the company owner.

See Also

Creating a Speech Application Specification | Specifying the Target Organization | The Speech Project Lifecycle | Speech Application Design Considerations