Persona: Joyce & Winston Barrington

Overview
Meet Joyce and Winston Barrington. They are 72 and 74 respectively, and live in a terraced house in North London. Joyce and Winston came to England in 1982 from Jamaica in search of well paid jobs and a modern lifestyle. Their extended family also came to England around the same time.
Joyce is now retired, but when she was in employment she worked in a hair and beauty salon, mostly applying synthetic nails for customers. Now that she is no longer in full time work, Joyce finds herself with a lot of time on her hands. Winston made a living in Jamaica as a jazz musician, however since coming to England he has done it only as a hobby.

Household & Leisure Activities
Joyce's household activities mainly include doing the housework and preparing the meals. Since they only live in a small house, it does not require much work to keep it clean and tidy. They also have a dog that Joyce takes for daily walks. Her other hobbies include embroidery and flower arranging. Winston is a keen gardener, however as he is getting older, he finds it harder to keep the garden in order. He enjoys doing Su Doku puzzles and keeping up to date with politics and current affairs. Winston also listens to a lot of jazz music, and having recently bought a Hi-Fi has started a collection of classic jazz.
Joyce and Winston have three daughters that also live in the London area, however since neither drive they must rely on public transport to get to see them.
Joyce is also a keen cook, specialising in Jamaican cuisine. She shops at a specialist Jamaican food shop, however this is also a bus ride away.

A Day in the Life
Since they retired, Joyce and Winston have enjoyed a relaxed lifestyle. A typical day in their house would involve getting up around 7:00 a.m. and eating breakfast together. In the mornings Joyce likes to run any errands that need doing, as well as take the dog for a walk. In the afternoon Joyce usually pursues one of her leisure activities, such as cooking or flower arranging. Winston often works on their garden in the mornings, and after lunch he enjoys watching TV and listening to music. Every night Joyce prepares the evening meal, leaving Winston to do the washing up. In the evenings the couple like to relax, either staying in watching television, or visiting one of their daughters.

Goals, Fears & Aspirations
Joyce's main fear in life is losing her independence and mobility. She tries to stay fit by walking the dog and despite her general health being very good, she is an feeling increasingly like an 'elderly' woman. Having had a fairly comfortable life in London, Joyce does not have any significant long term goals, other than to keep enjoying her life by remaining fit and active. One of her daughters has a baby, so Joyce would like to be see the child grow up. Joyce's other aspiration is to come up to date with modern times, for example her husband recently purchased her a mobile phone. Winston's ambition is also to keep active, especially in the garden. He hopes to grow a vegetable patch so that the couple can enjoy home grown vegetables. He would also like to play a more active role with household activities because Joyce is starting to struggle with her workload of shopping, cleaning and general chores.

Computer Skills
The only time Joyce has used a computer has been in the library to search for books. She has no experience of the Internet or PCs but is very willing to learn. Winston recently attended an 'Internet for the Elderly' course at his local meeting point, gaining basic knowledge of computer. He would like to further these skills so he can take full advantage of the services available on the Internet.

Technology Attitudes / Attributes
The Barrington’s home does not contain many technological appliances or gadgets. Winston has a CD player and a DVD player, which Joyce feels relatively comfortable using. Both are keen to get to grips with a wider range of modern technology. The couple have never had any of the latest gadgetry, but would like to update their lifestyles by introducing things like digital cameras. To keep in touch with their family, they currently almost solely rely on landline telephones. However now Joyce has a mobile phone she can call on the move, as well as text her extended family.

Market Size and Influence
In terms of modern technology and gadgetry, the potential market for a product like ours could be reasonably small. However with technology use on the increase across all age ranges with applications such as mobile phones and the internet, the market is constantly growing and attracting customers of all ages. In terms of the popularity of Internet shopping, elderly customers make up a very small percentage of users. Due to the inaccessibility of such services to the elderly however, our product offers solutions and alternatives to their current problems and solutions.