DIREKT User Personas

Personas are hypotheses until Phase 1A field research confirms or changes them.

1. Ruth — household customer

Context: Needs a plumber after a recurring leak. Uses an Android phone and mobile data carefully.

Goals - find someone serving her area; - know whether contact and qualification details were checked; - avoid a fake intermediary; - contact the provider quickly; - preserve a record if the provider does not arrive.

Risks - assuming a wide service area means a verified physical location; - sharing exact home details too early; - weak connectivity during search.

Design implications - manual area search; - concise trust summary; - contact-sharing consent; - low-data list mode; - tracked enquiry and safety reminders.

2. Kelvin — mobile sole-trader plumber

Context: Has no storefront, serves several neighbourhoods, and relies on referrals.

Goals - demonstrate identity and qualifications; - specify where he travels; - upload evidence from a low-cost Android device; - receive useful leads; - understand renewal requirements.

Risks - exposing his home address; - upload interruption; - confusing subscription payment with verification completion.

Design implications - service area separate from private base evidence; - resumable onboarding; - check-by-check progress; - clear fee language; - provider availability and enquiry inbox.

3. Chipo — registered workshop owner

Context: Runs a fixed-premises automotive workshop with employees.

Goals - publish a reliable business pin; - manage multiple services and staff access; - show registration and premises checks; - respond consistently; - monitor reviews and enquiries.

Design implications - organization and member roles; - fixed public location with consent; - business evidence; - multi-user access in later MVP increments; - response analytics.

4. Mwansa — property manager/institutional buyer

Context: Needs repeatable access to compliant providers for several properties.

Goals - filter by current required checks; - compare service areas and response; - retain an auditable supplier shortlist; - receive certificate-expiry updates.

Design implications - explicit verification filters; - saved lists; - currentness indicators; - institutional functionality after core consumer flow.

5. Thandiwe — verification reviewer

Context: Reviews multiple evidence types from a desktop.

Goals - see complete case context; - distinguish public and private fields; - use consistent reason codes; - request corrections; - avoid approving expired or mismatched evidence.

Risks - decision fatigue; - insecure downloads; - inconsistent judgement.

Design implications - structured checklist; - secure viewer; - previous-decision history; - quality sampling; - escalation and four-eyes controls.

6. Joseph — field verification agent

Context: Travels to provider premises with intermittent connectivity.

Goals - receive clear assignments; - navigate to private verification location; - collect structured evidence; - work offline temporarily; - submit an auditable visit.

Risks - device loss; - unsafe visit; - collusion/coercion; - uploading wrong provider evidence.

Design implications - role-restricted mobile web/Android field flow; - assignment token and case identity; - offline draft with secure storage; - check-in/out and safety protocol; - supervisor review.

7. Naledi — trust and safety supervisor

Context: Handles serious complaints and suspicious verification patterns.

Goals - connect reports, interactions, evidence and prior actions; - apply proportionate restrictions; - document reasons; - support appeals; - identify systemic fraud.

Design implications - case timeline; - severity and SLA; - audit and restricted notes; - cross-provider pattern controls; - controlled exports.

Persona validation criteria

Phase 1 research must document:

  • which assumptions were confirmed/rejected;
  • language and digital-literacy differences;
  • actual device/connectivity patterns;
  • provider evidence availability;
  • user interpretation of trust wording;
  • gender, disability and safety considerations.