Today we want to introduce you to a few people:
- Mildred is 81 and she just wants to enjoy life. She sometimes struggles with technology so she needs webpages that are easy to read and easy to print out
- Ken is 47 and he runs his own business. He lives on his mobile phone and he wishes his interactions with the council were as easy as ordering spare parts from suppliers
- Eesha is 34, a busy working mum who hates long complicated forms and web pages that take a long time to load
- Lynn is 67, she recently got an iPad so she can FaceTime her grandchildren. She refuses to do any online shopping or make any online payments though because she doesn’t trust the internet with her credit card details
- Alice is 17 and lives with her parents in a little village. They haven’t got broadband yet so their internet connection is painfully slow and she’s got no patience for webpages with complicated interfaces or large images
- Dan is 40 and he thinks the council should be run like a business. He is very tech-savvy with all the latest devices and quick to vent his frustrations on Twitter
- Naomi is 21, a single mum with a toddler. She’s job hunting and prefers online forms she can save and come back to later
These seven people are the ‘essence’ of Dorset’s residents – fictional people we have created based on data about Dorset’s population.
The full personas go into much more detail to help us understand our citizens better. How technology fits into their lives, how comfortable they are interacting with the council online and most of all what they NEED from us.
They were posted around the walls in our old office but now we also have them all printed on little cards as a tool we can keep on our desks and take to meetings. When we’re creating digital services and webpages we can ask questions like: “Is this e-form good enough for Mildred?”, “Can Ken make this payment on his phone?” “Will Naomi be able to save this application form if her daughter interrupts her halfway through?”.
Over to you – do you recognise any of these personas? Do they have the same needs as your customers? Or your family members perhaps? Are there other ways you think we could be using them?
What input do you want from us?
Can we ask specific questions, such as
Does dorset c c have any plans to make the pavements more user friendly?
Hi Lesley We would re-frame this question to get the most out of using the personas. For example Eesha and Naomi could be likely to ask this question of the council, as they have children and are likely to use pushchairs. Therefore we need to make sure that any form they might have to complete in order to submit a question about pavements is short and simple, as we know that neither of them like long forms.