It's clear from responses to the first task that we're trying to help a wide variety of people. One technique user interface designers often use to get a handle on this is to make up short biographies of the people they're trying to help. This doesn't just make it clear for them and other people; it also gives them a short-hand way to refer to particular use cases (as in, "OK, how would Jane use this feature?").

For our second task, let's use this technique to clarify who we're trying to help and how. Please make up biographies for a couple of learners like the ones on the Software Carpentry site and post them in your blog. (Cartoons are not required, but I will award a prize to the best one :-) Please make these made-up people representative of the whole range of learners you're trying to help, i.e., as different from one another as possible while still being in your target audience.

When you're done, please add a link to your post to the list below. If you uncheck the box saying "Minor update", a note about your change will automatically be posted to the course activity wall when you save your changes.

• Greg Wilson
• Laura Blankenship
• Steve Thomas (aka MrSteve)
• Jaelle Scheuerman