The GenderMag Project

Customize "Tim (Timothy/Timara)"

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    Work starts with email, Which he answers one at a time, as soon as he reads them.  

Background and Skills


Tim (Timothy/Timara)

Tim Hopkins
  • 28 Years Old
  • Employed as an Accountant
  • Lives in Cardiff, Wales

    Tim loves public transportation. He knows several routes to get there from home and he's always exploring ways to optimize his trips into the office.

    Work starts with email, which he answers one at a time, as soon as he reads them.  

    (Sometimes this backfires, if there is a second related message he hasn't read yet, but he doesn't mind sending a follow-up email.) Some nights he plays computer games with his online friends.

Background and Skills

    Tim works as an accountant. He just moved to this employer 1 week ago, and

     the software systems are new to him

    For Tim, technology is a source of fun, and he is always on the lookout for new computer software. He likes to make sure he has the latest version of all his tech with all the latest features. 

     

    Tim has not taken any computer programming or IT classes.

    Tim  likes Math and knows how to think in terms of numbers. 

    He writes and edits spreadsheet formulas for his work.


     

    He plays the latest video games, has the newest smart phone and hybrid car.

    He downloads and installs the latest software, and experiments with its settings. He is comfortable and confident with technology and

    he enjoys learning about it and using new technologies. 


Motivations and Attitudes

  • Motivations: Tim likes learning all the available functionality on all of his devices  and computer systerms he uses, even when it may not be necessary to help him achieve his tasks. he sometimes finds himself exploring functions of one of his gadgets for so long that he loses sight of what he wanted to do with it to begin with.
  • Computer Self-Efficacy: Tim has high confidence in his abilities with technology, and thinks he's better than the average person at learning about new features. If he can't fix the problem, he blames it on the software vendor. It's not his fault if he can't get it to work.
  • Attitude toward Risk: Tim doesn't mind talking risks using features of technology. that haven't been proven to work. When he is presented with challenges because he has tried a new way that doesn't work, it doesn't changes his attitudes toward technology.

Attitude to Technology

  • Information Processing Style: Tim leans towards a selective information processing style or "depth first" approach. That is, he usually delves into the first promising option, pursues it, and if it doesn't work out he backs out and gathers a bit more information until he sees another option to try. Thus, his style is very incremental.
  • Learning: by Process vs. by Tinkering : Whenever Tim uses new technology, he tries to construct his own understanding of how the software works internally. He likes tinkering and exploring the menu items and functions of the software in order to build that understanding. Sometimes he plays with features too much, losing focus on what he set out to do originally, but this helps him gain better understanding of the software.
1Tim represents users with motivations/attitudes and information/learning styles similar to his. For data on people similar to and different from Tim, see
http://gendermag.org/Foundations.html


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