TARGET PERSONAS

Phil was born in Birmingham in 1976 and just turned 46.

Phil completed his A Levels and managed to secure a space at Coventry University when he was 18, the first in his family to do so. He completed a degree in Multimedia Technology, proudly achieving a 2:1.

In his last year of university, Phil met Maria, the woman who would become his wife. Straight after university, they lived temporarily with Maria’s family in North Birmingham, while they saved for their first home. Maria went straight into primary school teaching from university, whilst Phil worked managing a local video shop until he could find a suitable graduate role. They bought a modest, rather small terraced house 10 miles from the city centre and decided to save to get married. Around the same time, they bought a secondhand Mini.

In 1998, Phil landed a job at Birmingham City Council, working as on the IT Helpdesk as a Supervisor, earning £19k. He did lots of training inside his role, and became a member of BCS (the Chartered Institute for IT), making his way up to Helpdesk Manager in 2004 (at a salary of £27k), which is when Phil and Maria ended up getting married. By 2007, they had an 18-month-old son and Maria was pregnant with their second child. By this point, Phil had upgraded to a Ford Focus.

Now a father of two, Phil managed to progress to exactly where he wanted to be at work, and landed the role of Head of IT in 2009, earning £41k. He celebrated by buying a brand new Toyota Prius.

Now on a higher income and with the house being too small for their family, they invested in a new build 30 minutes outside of Birmingham, positioned more towards the green belt area. Shenstone was a great choice as it gave him the option of driving into the city, which takes 30 minutes via the M6, or taking the train, which takes a little longer, but allows him to work on his journey in.

Phil’s new job put him in charge of the whole department; comprising 60 people: 50 people working on the very busy IT help desk and 10 supervisors. He has an Administrative Assistant called Josie. The Council building had 300 people working inside it, so he was in charge of 300 computers and phone systems, plus IT systems within 10 small meeting rooms and larger boardrooms. Phil reports with KPIs to the Head of Operations at a monthly meeting in the boardroom and sends weekly activity reports.

In his role, Phil’s main pain points are:

1. The older staff at the Council, who have worked there their whole life and have a poor understanding of IT, meaning a lot of time is wasted fixing problems that need not have happened.
2. How long approval takes for anything the department needs, there is a lot of paperwork.
3. They do not have the budget to have completely up to date technology, e.g. they are still using conference telephone facilities when Skype would be much more useful.

Outside of work, Phil has a lifelong love of Aston Villa, and his season ticket is one of his prized possessions. He often attends matches with his two children, who are also die-hard fans. Phil plays a little five-a-side with work colleagues once a month, though he is not as fit as he would like to be. He plays Fantasy Football and is part of a small league at work, that he started some years ago. He loves to go to the pub with his friends on a Friday evening after work, but with his kids still in school, this doesn’t happen that often.

Phil has always favoured Android over Apple and enjoys still being able to take a computer apart and put it back together. He always upgrades to the latest Samsung phone and likes to spend money on a decent laptop, and currently loves his Microsoft Surface Pro 6.

Phil reads The Guardian online on his laptop each morning, whilst eating his breakfast, and likes to follow Aston Villa and some of their more active fans on Twitter. In fact, he probably spends far too much time on Twitter. He is on LinkedIn with a professional profile but only goes on once per week. He has a Facebook but rarely checks it, other than to upload holiday photos.

Born in Liverpool in 1980, Mark had an interest in computers from a very young age; his Amiga 500 being one of his most prized possessions. The Amiga started his love of gaming; something he still very much enjoys doing, though now it’s a PS4 that he’s hooked on.

Passing his 11+ with flying colours, Mark went on to attend a prestigious grammar school in the Liverpool suburbs. Ever the entrepreneur, Mark set up his own business whilst still in Sixth Form, going to people’s homes to fix their computer problems, managing to make a decent amount in savings.

Mark never really found Liverpool big enough and aspired to live in London from an early age. Upon passing his A-Levels, he decided to take a year out to see Europe with his friends. Once back, he headed straight for an IT degree at the University of London and began his new life ‘down south’.

Mark thoroughly enjoyed university and his new life in London. He made a close-knit circle of friends that remain in his life today, though he is the only one that hasn’t got married yet. He probably spends more time gaming than he does on his love life.

Mark’s first job was a fast track graduate programme at a global law firm in Barbican. The firm has £121m annual revenue and rising. Mark spent two years learning the ropes in every department, before starting at a managerial position in the IT department, covering the London office. Mark has undergone intensive training, including residential courses, post-graduate programme; joining the BCS and The Association of Computer Professionals; all funded by his workplace.

Mark is a dedicated, reliable and hardworking person, intent on achieving success in the computing field. His workplace notices this, and he begins to climb the ladder, first heading up the London office IT department, then became Regional Head of IT for all offices in the South, with a salary of £85k. The hours are long and the job is stressful, but he is able to afford to buy a small, but technically 2 bed flat in Stratford, which he takes real pride in making look slick and modern. Work is only 29 minutes away on the Central Line (or a £20 taxi if he’s feeling lazy), so he hasn’t bothered getting a car yet.

Mark’s job involves managing a generous budget to ensure that all staff at the firm have the latest technology, overseeing the help desk, analysing common issues and coordinating operations with suppliers. He also collates complex management information to report to the National Head of IT, who is often away at the other global offices or attending conferences. He has an excellent secretary and relies on her considerably to get his job done. Mark looks after 400 computer units in his current office and a total of 1000 in his region.

His main pain points include:

1. If there is a problem, there is tremendous pressure on him to fix it quickly, as the solicitors that work in the office have very high hourly rates;
2. Communication can be strained between the solicitors and the IT department; the two groups do not respect each other’s roles much;
3. He is very busy, often working long hours and would like more of a work/life balance so he has the energy to go dating and find a partner;
4. He finds the volume of emails he has to deal with every day overwhelming.

Mark would happily argue the merits of PC over Apple and prefers Android phones. He has a PS4 and accessories at home, along with a gaming PC that he doesn’t use as much nowadays. He has a Dell desktop, which is upgraded every 6 months at work, and a Dell XPS 13 9380 laptop; due to the fact Dell is one of the law firm’s clients and provide them with bulk discounts for their best products.

He dutifully checks LinkedIn every morning and after lunch and is a member of several IT professional groups. He is pleased with how he has grown his network. Mark keeps up with his friends and family on Facebook, using the app on his phone. He watches walkthroughs and gaming vlogs on YouTube at home.

Mark reads The Times on his laptop over his woefully short lunchtime, at his favourite cafe, where he orders the same thing every day. His role includes subscriptions to PC Magazine, Wired and CIO, which he reads over expensive coffee when he gets a rare break. Mark doesn’t cook very often and often orders delivery food in the evening; though it is quality food from decent restaurants. He is particularly fond of Japanese food, and Japanese culture in general. He is planning a trip to Japan in a few years’ time.