Advanced Technical Writing

Personas

Steve Thomas, 38, is an English instructor for Prince George’s Community College. He has

been teaching there for eight years. He lives in Riverdale Park, Maryland, about 10 minutes

from Banana Blossom. He wants to order a cup of cold Vietnamese coffee online from Banana

Blossom and pick it up in about 30 minutes. He is getting ready to teach his class for the

evening, and he would like to pick up the coffee to go to give him an energy boost as he heads on

to class.

Steve has never ordered on Banana Blossom’s website before, although he was at Banana

Blossom two months ago with friends. He has ordered food online from other establishments in

the past.

He does not want to create an account, as he thinks he will not be ordering food regularly from

this restaurant. He wants to pay with his Visa card.

Melanie Johnson, 42, is an analyst for the General Accounting Office in Washington, DC. She is

at work now in her office in Washington, DC. She plans to have dinner with her friend, Sharon,

this evening at Sharon’s home in Beltsville, Maryland. Melanie will be leaving work in about

three hours, and she would like to order two meals online from Banana Blossom to take to

Sharon’s house. Sharon specifically told Melanie to order one of the dishes from the list of

entrée specials on the menu.

It will take Melanie about 30 minutes to get to Banana Blossom, so she will need to order her

food for pickup in about three and a half hours. She would like to set her pickup time at 5:30

pm.

Melanie would like to create an account because she anticipates ordering online from this

restaurant several times in the coming year.

Melanie has ordered food online before, but never at Banana Blossom. She will be using

American Express to complete her order.

Jared Sampson, 23, is a dog trainer for Pets Paradise in Lanham, Maryland. He is meeting with

some friends later this afternoon for a quick dinner in the parking lot of Prince George’s Stadium

before they enter the stadium to see a Bowie Baysox baseball game.

One of his friends, Suzanne, gave Jared a gift card for Banana Blossom four months ago for his

birthday. Jared will order food from Banana Blossom and pay for it with the gift card. Suzanne

told him that he has to order online in advance. If he tries to order in the store, his food order will

take too long, and he and his friends will be late for the baseball game.

Jared has never ordered food online from any establishment in the past. He orders his food

onsite when he gets carryout. He is a bit nervous about ordering online from Banana Blossom

because he does not want to risk giving out his personal information. He is glad to be paying

with a gift card to avoid putting his credit card information online. Still, he prefers not to post

any personal information online to a local establishment with which he is unfamiliar. He thinks

that if he orders online from Banana Blossom now, he will be harrassed in the future with emails

or texts from the restaurant asking him to order more in the future. He is anxious about ordering

online for this reason.