Importance of Personae and Use Cases / Scenarios

In developing better "customer service" or sales -- personae are integral to understanding who you are serving, what capabilities or limitations they may have, what they might want and level of personal interaction they want vs. should receive.  After you've got these you can then use them as a guide to help setup a system that brings them into the "funnel" and can follow up effectively and report back.

Personae like:

Joan is a 40-year old divorced single mother of 2 teenagers.  She has a cell phone, email and home PC on broadband.  She considers herself computer literate but shuns social networking sites.  She prefers email over phone calls because of her busy schedule.  She needs to schedule things well in advance as she is regularly cabbie for the kids.

Ted is a 24-year old single straight guy who is very tech savvy and is a web developer by day.  He has an iPhone, Broadband, etc.  He is a member of Facebook but doesn't care for blogs.  Best way to reach him is to text (or FB) as he never listens to voice mails and he gets too many emails.  He has a lot of free time on weekends just broke up with a long term girl friend.  He takes public transit or rides his bike if weather is good.

Rick is a 14-year old but does not have home access to a computer.  He has a basic cell phone which has unlimited texting and minutes.  He plays computer games and listens to his iPod.  He text messages a lot but does not get very many calls -- he doesn't even know is Voicemail password.  He never gets his messages on the home phone.  He has a lot of free time but no transportation.  

Georgia is a 60 year old who has a dated home computer and a dial-up connection to the internet - she logs on every 3-5 days.  She has a cell phone but with very limited minuted and only uses it for emergency.  She has a home phone which she prefers to use and is often busy and an old answering machine.  She still works part time and volunteers with several groups.  She spends a good portion of her personal time gardening outside or taking care of the grandkids at her daughters home.  She drives independently but limits travel to 10-20 mile trips.

Arthur is a 80 year old widower with no computer or internet connection.  He has no cell phone.  He has a home phone but rarely uses it.  He reads the paper, watches TV for news and gets his mail.  His only socializing is at Church and the Senior Center.  He no longer drives.

Alice is 32 year old married mother to be.  She has a laptop and a WiFi connection she shares with the neighbors.  She works full time and in front of a computer all day.  She has a cell phone with a web browser and she texts her friends more than she talks to them. She uses Facebook infrequently mainly to connect with old friends or to share photos. She has no land line at home.  She shares a car with her husband but he does not attend church.

Luke and Laura are a married couple that live together.  They have a home PC, Laptop and wireless internet connected to broadband.  Both travel for work regularly leaving their schedules and time together limited.  Both have cell phones but Luke is not supposed to use his for anything other than work and family emergencies.  Luke's phone is a Blackberry and he can read both work and personal emails.  Laura has a standard phone and only knows how to make calls and take photos that only ever stay on the phone.  They have a home phone with voice mail but only Laura seems to check it.  Both have their own transportation and drive separately often to the same place as they then have other errands to complete.  Laura keeps the family schedule in her head but is often disappointed at changes/disruptions due to Luke's work.

Use Case / Scenarios might be:

Want to get married in the church

Need help getting groceries

Recently diagnosed with cancer

Moved to the area

Death of someone close

Interested in an upcoming event