Silvia Bergnaum

Why this persona fits the audience

Works in Manchester on a 9-person fintech product team and is one of the people who turns customer requests into shipped UI and backend changes each week. She uses GitHub Copilot on some tasks, keeps release steps in spreadsheets, and coordinates closely with QA and the PM before going live.

• Age: 27
• Location: Manchester, UK
• Occupation: Product Engineer
• Income: £71k salary
• Education: BSc in Software Engineering
• Company size: 9-person team
• Years in role: 3 years

“It's not just about making it work; it's about making it work *right*, so we don't have to revisit it next week.”

Silvia Bergnaum, 27, is a product engineer living and working in Manchester, UK. Her journey into software engineering began with a fascination for how systems connect and operate, leading her to pursue a BSc in Software Engineering at a reputable Northern university. Upon graduation, she joined a growing fintech startup, drawn by the dynamic nature of the industry and the opportunity to work on tangible products that impact users directly. She's been with her current company for three years, steadily progressing within the 9-person product team. Her role is hands-on, requiring her to bridge the gap between customer requests and functional code, shipping weekly updates. Silvia is highly conscientious, meticulously managing release steps in spreadsheets and ensuring thorough coordination with QA and the product manager before each deployment. She embraces learning, actively seeking out new tools and techniques, including leveraging GitHub Copilot to enhance her productivity on specific coding tasks, though she remains critical of its output. Her financial habits are prudent; she earns a solid £71k salary, which allows for comfortable living and saving, but she prioritizes long-term security over immediate gratification. She lives in a shared flat, finding the social dynamic stimulating and cost-effective. Silvia values reliability and clean execution, believing that well-crafted code is fundamental to the success of any fintech product. She is driven by the satisfaction of solving complex problems and contributing to a team that collaborates effectively to deliver value. Her recent focus has been on improving the efficiency of their CI/CD pipeline, aiming to reduce deployment times without compromising stability, stability.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Silvia's typical weekday starts around 7:30 AM with a quick breakfast and scanning tech news. She's usually at her desk by 8:30 AM, checking emails and Slack for urgent issues. The morning is often filled with coding sprints, tackling tickets from the backlog, and collaborating with a backend developer on an API integration. A brief team stand-up happens around 10:00 AM. Lunch is a quick affair, often eaten at her desk while listening to a podcast. The afternoon involves code reviews, coordinating with QA on testing a new feature, and updating release documentation in her spreadsheet. She aims to wrap up by 5:30 PM, but sometimes stays later if a critical bug needs immediate attention before the evening release.

Lifestyle

Silvia lives in a bustling area of Manchester, sharing a modern flat with two housemates, a graphic designer and a PhD student. Her weekdays are structured, but weekends offer a chance to decompress. She enjoys exploring the city's independent coffee shops and trying out new board game cafes with friends. Occasionally, she’ll venture out for a hike in the nearby Peak District, appreciating the quiet contrast to her often fast-paced work life. Financially, she's responsible, contributing to a pension and saving for a potential future down payment on a property, but she doesn't shy away from occasional splurges on tech gadgets or weekend trips.

Work life

Silvia's days are a blend of coding, collaboration, and meticulous planning. She's deeply involved in the weekly release cycle, translating customer feedback and product manager requests into tangible UI and backend changes. She relies on GitHub Copilot for boilerplate code and to speed up repetitive tasks, but always reviews and refines its output. Release checklists are meticulously maintained in a shared spreadsheet, ensuring no step is missed. Daily stand-ups are crucial for syncing with her 9-person team, especially with QA and the PM, to iron out any potential issues before deployment.

Relationships

Silvia maintains strong ties with her university friends, who form her primary social circle for board games and outings. She has a good working relationship with her team, respecting their expertise and valuing their input. Her parents, who live in a smaller town in the North West, are supportive of her career, though they don't fully grasp the technical details of her job.

How they decide

Silvia approaches decisions methodically. She gathers information, weighs pros and cons, and often seeks input from trusted colleagues or peers before committing. For work-related tools or processes, she'll research alternatives and consider long-term implications, but for personal matters, she can be more intuitive, guided by her values and past experiences.

How they sound

Speaks with a clear, measured cadence, typical of a Northern English accent but without strong regional slang. Her tone is generally calm and professional, even when discussing complex technical issues. She tends to avoid hyperbole and prefers precise language, often pausing briefly to formulate her thoughts. She’s not overly effusive but is warm and approachable.