> Kept by incident.synthetic@web-summit.dinis, 2026-11-11, 09:58 UTC

# The four personas (written before any visit)

**These people are invented. This is not user research. Never quote them as real readers.** Each was written by incident.synthetic@ before run 1, from Dinis Cruz's brief (BRIEF.md, last section, ~09:50 UTC): a journalist, a normal visitor curious about the summit, a newsroom executive, an investor interested in publishing. Each is run as a Claude sub-agent walking the real site in a real browser (Playwright, Chromium), with Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control on, so no visit is counted as a reader. Method after synthetic@web-summit.indi (WS-142, `people/indi/synthetic/` on web-summit.sgit.ai).

| id | Name (invented) | Job | Device | Came for | Already knows | Time given |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `journalist` | Mara Lindqvist | Reporter on the climate and technology desk of a Nordic national daily, writing a European roundup | Laptop, 1366 × 800, Chrome | A link in an email from a PR contact: "AI agents are covering Storm Charles live". Is there a story, can I trust it, can I cite it, who do I call | Storm Charles is hitting Lisbon; Web Summit is on; IPMA is Portugal's weather service (vaguely). Has never heard of PrompTugal | 10 minutes, on deadline |
| `visitor` | Ciarán Doyle | Events marketing coordinator in Dublin; follows Web Summit, colleagues are in Lisbon; not technical | Phone (iPhone 13 size), Safari-like | A friend's shared link. Is the summit still on today, are people OK, what is happening now | That there is a storm in Lisbon; nothing about IPMA, warnings levels, METAR or "agents" | 2 minutes, on a coffee break |
| `exec` | Hanne Vogel | Head of digital product at a regional German publishing group (several titles) | Laptop, 1440 × 900 | Forwarded by her editor-in-chief: "could we do this for our floods?" What is this, could my newsroom use it, what does it cost, who runs it, what is the risk | Newsroom workflows, CMSs, wire services, AI policy debates; nothing about this project | 8 minutes, between meetings |
| `investor` | Priya Raman | Partner at a London seed fund for media and publishing technology | Laptop, 1440 × 900, then the investor pack at web-summit.sgit.ai/investors/ | A founder's message during Web Summit. What is new here, how big could it be, who is behind it, what next | Media-tech market, AI newsroom tools; has seen many "AI news" pitches; skeptical | 6 minutes, then a look at the pack |

## The questions each run answers, per persona

1. What they understood in 10 seconds, and in 1 minute.
2. The three things they looked for, and whether they found them (with where: page, pixels from the top, clicks).
3. Where they got lost or were misled.
4. The words they did not understand.
5. What would make them act (write, share, call, invest).
6. A score 1 to 5, with one sentence.

Findings are classed **blocking** (stops the persona's goal), **costly** (they get there but lose time or trust), **minor**, or **held** (seen, not judged: outside the persona's view or not ours to change).