[IxDA Discuss] Personas or some other technique?

[Tom Dell'Aringa]

Hi there,

I'm working on a complex portal/business tool project for a major home
services (cleaning) company. I have very limited resources however - I don't
have access to the users in order to do interviews for example. All I have
is a business requirement document, and a spreadsheet showing the primary
"actors" on the system (really, roles). I also have the old system (windows
based) installed on my machine for reference (although it is changing quite
a bit)

I wanted to build some personas as a design tool, but I don't think I have
enough information. Here is the most detailed information I have on one of
the actors:

"Owner - Entrepreneur and strong willed. Older owners are use to having
great flexibility in how they maintain their data and systems. Can be
impatient when unknown and known/expected errors occur that prevent them or
their staff from completing a service day. The schedule board is where they
live and breath. The schedule board is very critical to their operations.
Newer and multi-office owners expect flexibility and functionality in the
application.  Security is of the utmost importance to them. They are not
typically doing the day to day activities of closing out records and are not
as familiar with where certain features and functions are. There must be a
clear navigation path to give them a clear understanding of what is
happening or should happen.  For multi-office owners having the ability to
view rollup metrics for their operations is a priority."

I have 8 other similar paragraphs, none as complete as this one. One problem
is that the above paragraph details *one* type of owner, but it really is a
stereotype. I doubt they all fit that model. I can guess about the mental
models these users have of the current system (and what they expect) but
they would only be guesses.

I came up with 4 behavioral variables based on the actor sheet and some
other very general info I have, which are:

Frequency of use (low to high)
Patience with the system (low to high)
Comfort level with technology (low to high)
Motivation for use (analysis vs. task oriented)

And I also came up with some *assumed* goals based on the same info:

 A smooth running business that is profitable
Quickly and efficiently get my work done
Make my short interaction with the app quick and painless
Easily produce accurate and flexible reporting
Clearly teach new users how to use the system and efficiently support
current users
Does this seem like enough info to provide even a skeleton persona? What
would your approach be given the type of information above, what would you
supply or how would you proceed? The client is anxious to get any help they
can, which is a good thing.

(FYI, the reasons behind why I can only get this amount of info are complex,
let's ignore that issue - it's set in stone)

Any tips are appreciated - please CC me at pixelmech at gee mail dot com.

Thanks!

Tom