ReminderX Persona: Ben

Ben

The following persona was derived from actual human behavior patterns brought to light through the interview research conducted for this project. Personas are a contributor to the design process, in order to provide insight into a typical user. 

ABOUT BEN

Ben is a recent graduate of Kent State University, and received his degree in marketing at the age of 22. He is currently six months into his new job at 9-2-5 Marketing Inc., in Washington, as a client representative, and he is trying to keep his head above water with all of the tasks being thrown his way. 

While Ben realizes he is new to his position and to the workforce, he is trying to utilize the project management skills he learned in college. The last thing he wants is for his new co-workers to think he can’t hack it in the real world. So, with a goal in mind, Ben downloads a reminder application for his iPhone and iPad. He uses this to track his tasks, but realizes it is limited, and won’t do everything he needs it to do. Trying to keep up with the pace of incoming assignments, he decides it will do for now.

In weekly, Monday morning meetings, Ben is required to stand up in front of the company and deliver an update on his clients and their projects. Ben pulls out his iPad and reads from the reminder application the list of clients he is working with and relays important updates. A co-worker raises her hand - it’s Sandy from down the hall, the lead designer on The Bean, a coffee company account. Sandy asks about a task that takes place with all of the firm’s clients, design assets.  “Hey, Ben, did you request the items I needed for the design?” Ben says, “Let me take a look for you.” He does a quick search for the words “design assets,” but it pulls up reminders for all of his clients who have that task yet to be checked off his list. Not having the time to weed through them in front of all of his peers, Ben says, “let’s discuss this after the meeting, shall we?” Sandy agrees and the meeting continues. 

Later that day, Ben is evaluating the best way to manage his tasks again. While his application works for his basic needs, its functionality is lacking. He starts writing down his tasks in a notebook, but forgets it on his desk when he heads out to an important meeting. 

Despite a frustrating start at the company, eventually Ben finds his organizational path for managing his clients. He receives his tasks via email and conversation and immediately adds them to his task list application. He adds important dates to his calendar and uses Google Sheets to manage project grids. Reminders can get tricky between the calendar and application, but the duplication isn’t too impeding. He makes do. 

At the end of the day, Ben just wants to be a successful business professional at his company. He has found a way to manage his tasks and reminders in a way that works for him. He says it works for him, in the short term, but he would like to have a more seamless process in the future. 

BEN’S PERSONALITY

• Creative
• Forward-thinking
• Positive & determined
• Educated
• Young professional
• A multi-tasker

BEN’S GOALS

• To become a respected skilled professional. 
• To be recommended by his existing clients to prospective clients.
• To stay on track with all of his tasks and remain organized. 
• To eventually obtain a master’s degree and advance his career.

BEN’S PAIN POINTS AND CHALLENGES

• Finding it difficult to prioritize tasks. 
• Unclear expectations from clients. 
• The lack of integration between his calendar, reminders and other systems.
• The lack of automation.
• Poor communication on shared projects.
• Not having the time it takes to learn new technology.
• Organizational frustrations.

The iterations in the ReminderX project helped to satisfy Ben’s pain points and challenges.