In general, a persona is a (visualised) fictional character that “summarize[s] user research findings and bring[s] that research to life in such a way that everyone can make decisions based on these personas, not based on themselves” (1). The input for defining the features of personas can be derived from user research data or from individuals and their personal experiences.
The BEAMER personas focus on users of the BEAMER framework and its tooling within different settings and contexts. This enables the consortium to address their needs properly, for example throughout the implementation process in the piloting phase of the project. The identified BEAMER personas are generic so that it is possible for them to be applied in the context of different healthcare systems and settings.
The resulting sets of BEAMER framework user personas represent different healthcare professional (HCP) groups, patient organisations, and pharmaceutical companies representing a variety of implementation and usage settings. They primarily serve as a tool to enable e.g. the tailored creation of implementation materials (training materials, user manual, etc.) to meet these end users’ needs.
The BEAMER personas presented on this page are:
Healthcare Professional (HCP) Personas (4)
1. Mulder, S., & Yaar, Z. (2007). The user is always right: A practical guide to creating and using personas for the web. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. P. 19.
The primary aim of the end user personas is to support the creation of materials to support the implementation of the BEAMER model framework and to help define requirements for the elements of the BEAMER model framework. Hence, HCPs represent the primary envisaged end user group of the BEAMER model framework and associated AIVP.
“I have a lot of experience in my role and I have well established working practices which support patients well. I have a high workload and I have limited time to learn to use or implement new tools.”
“I play an important and supportive role in delivering care and my work involves a lot of patient interaction. It is important to me that new tools are easy to use and that the outputs are helpful in supporting patients.”
“I am in a decision-making role and it is important to me to introduce and promote supportive tools across my healthcare facility and ensure everyone knows why and how to use the tool to help patients.”
“I have a lot of experience in my role and I have well established working practices which support patients well. I have a high workload and I have limited time to learn to use or implement new tools.”
“I play an important and supportive role in delivering care and my work involves a lot of patient interaction. It is important to me that new tools are easy to use and that the outputs are helpful in supporting patients.”
“I am in a decision-making role and it is important to me to introduce and promote supportive tools across my healthcare facility and ensure everyone knows why and how to use the tool to help patients.”
“I support the decision maker in implementation processes across my organisation. It is important to me that tools are easy to use and that they enable a standardised approach towards patient adherence to treatment among HCPs.”
“I support the decision maker in implementation processes across my organisation. It is important to me that tools are easy to use and that they enable a standardised approach towards patient adherence to treatment among HCPs.”
Patient organisations are considered potential users of the model outputs. Consequently, personas were designed for these groups to assure that the implementation materials may also support their needs in the longer term, thus fostering sustainability of the project outputs.
"In implementing the BEAMER model, we want to be able to respond to the different needs of our patients to ensure their adherence, build a supportive community and improve outcomes."
Pharmaceutical industry are also considered to be primary end users of the BEAMER model framework and are envisaged to integrate the BEAMER outputs into their own platforms and to develop patient support programmes. Given the variety of use cases in the context of the pharmaceutical industry, a modular approach towards the implementation materials will be considered going forward to accommodate this end user group’s needs.
"In implementing BEAMER, if you can demonstrate that with BEAMER we can enhance our patient focus and improve outcomes, I’m on board!"
"In implementing BEAMER in one of our applications, I need to ensure it’s a reliable tool, easy to integrate into my tech stack."
"In implementing BEAMER, I need to trust the model and the data. Also, I need to know that if we ask for patients’ time and feedback, we give back and reward them."