Technical writing/Audience/Persona/Michail

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Michail Seremenko

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Background

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  • age: 35
  • Geography: Moscow, suburbs
  • Languages:
    • Russian
    • English
      • learned through study/courses
      • strong reading skills - upper intermediate
      • speaking/listening skills - intermediate
      • strong technical vocabulary
  • Education:
    • BS - MSU
    • BA - Computer Science - Lenmanov
  • Family:
    • Wife (of 6 years) - 35 - Olga
    • Son - 5 - Ivan
  • Stomach problems related to coffee, cigarette, alcohol intake. Treats with Zantac.

Role & Tasks

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  • Operator - MGS
    • monitors
    • reacts to alarms
    • bugs tasks --> sends bugs
  • Works as part of a team of 3 with Sergei & Igor
    • Sergei: his arch nemesis. Is always stealing his pens. He, in turn, is always closing the elevator door on him.
    • Igor: his work buddy. They have lunch daily in the canteen; also go out for vodka after work. Thus, the Zantac.

Daily activities

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  • reads emails
  • monitoring
  • troubleshooting
  • parameter adjustment
  • reads documents
  • calls TAC when necessary

Environment

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desk

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  • hot desking - completely unpersonalized
  • PC - technical - no internet - runs XP
  • phone

wider environment

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  • white board/cork board on wall
  • dirty industrial carpet with bugs. Has not been cleaned for at least half a decade.
  • coffee tea available. No food allowed.
  • open floor plan
  • cigarettes must be smoked outside (in the cold)

co-workers

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  • boss: people person. works 9-5. no technical experience
  • all male environment
  • no secretary/assistant
  • no visitors allowed

scheduling

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  • 1 day on, two days off
    • as a result, Michail generally feels sleepy, often can't read documents properly. Often "rests" on the job.

Relationship to Product/Documentation

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Likes

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  • chunks of information/searching
  • fast/obvious
  • steps to fix things
  • Russian language (with English)

Dislikes

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  • paper versions (soporific)
  • things that are slow, lengthy
  • discussion
  • ENG - it makes him feel dumb
  • changes, surprises
  • outdated documentation


He will always call TAC first. Then try the CD help file, because it is easier to access small specific chunks of information. When absolutely necessary, as a last resort (or as a pillow) he will attempt the paper version.


Interests (in no particular order)

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  • dog, "Larka," collie
  • reading SciFi, In Russian
  • action movies
  • playing video games on his PC
  • going to the gym
  • porno
  • his girlfriend

sports

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  • watches TV at the pub
  • impulsively & drunkenly bets on his favorite teams
  • cries when he loses

hobbies

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  • working on his car
  • listening to English music - Moby in particular
  • drinking vodka and beer
  • drinking vodka and beer while smoking
  • eating sweets


goals

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work

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  • make Sergei look bad
  • avoid too much work
  • avoid surprises at work
  • get better hours, an easier job
  • earn more money
  • gain more prestige, but avoid management responsibilities
  • work efficiently, then relax
  • be indispensable, important, irreplaceable
  • appear to be an expert

general

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  • not looking/feeling stupid
  • have power (but not necessarily responsibility)
  • move to the center/have a bigger flat/better furniture
  • have a better car
  • increased social status
  • have good food at home
  • Likes éntrees better than the main course