Who are these people? Using Progressive Personas to Guide STELLAR Development
Abstract: The Translational Workforce Development program of the Georgia CTSA is bringing together expertise in learning, performance, technology, workforce development, and clinical and translational science to create a system to support purposeful training and career development for the clinical translational research workforce. This system is the Self-career Training, Education, Lifelong Learning Advancement Resource (STELLAR). Developing STELLAR requires a deep understanding of the clinical translational research workforce, beyond numbers of employees, job descriptions, and position requirements across institutions. The first core user group identified were Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs) and persona development was started (Cooper et al., 2014). Using a process we call progressive persona development, interviews with CRCs at various levels (entry, mid-career, senior) were conducted, and the insights gained in these interviews were used to create four data-driven personas. These personas were then used to guide the initial design and development of STELLAR. Following a rapid-prototyping approach for developing STELLAR, the personas used for the system will also continue to evolve overtime (Pruitt & Adlin, 2006).