diff --git a/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/README.md b/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/README.md
index 1bc8d8a2938..ee1fc682534 100644
--- a/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/README.md
+++ b/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ Here's a demo of this being used: https://asciinema.org/a/euXb9dIeUybE3VkstLWLbv
 
 ## Usage
 
+This is meant to be an example image that you can copy into your own
+project and modify to your own needs. Notice that the example image
+includes a built-in test user account, which by default uses your
+`~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub` as an `authorized_key`.
+
 Build and upload the image
 ```shell
 $ ./upload-image.sh ./examples/basic/image.nix
diff --git a/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/examples/basic/system.nix b/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/examples/basic/system.nix
index 7e4d245d6cc..5f98216d183 100644
--- a/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/examples/basic/system.nix
+++ b/nixos/maintainers/scripts/azure-new/examples/basic/system.nix
@@ -1,42 +1,31 @@
 { pkgs, modulesPath, ... }:
 
+let username = "azurenixosuser";
+in
 {
   imports = [
     "${modulesPath}/virtualisation/azure-common.nix"
     "${modulesPath}/virtualisation/azure-image.nix"
   ];
 
-  ##### test user ######
-  users.extraGroups."cole".gid = 1000;
-    users.extraUsers."cole" = {
-      isNormalUser = true;
-      home = "/home/cole";
-      description = "Cole Mickens";
-      openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = ["ssh-rsa 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 (none)"];
-      #mkpasswd -m sha-512
-      hashedPassword = "$6$k.vT0coFt3$BbZN9jqp6Yw75v9H/wgFs9MZfd5Ycsfthzt3Jdw8G93YhaiFjkmpY5vCvJ.HYtw0PZOye6N9tBjNS698tM3i/1";
-      uid = 1000;
-      group = "cole";
-    };
-    nix.trustedUsers = [ "cole" ];
-  ##### test user ######
+  users.users."${username}" = {
+    isNormalUser = true;
+    home = "/home/${username}";
+    description = "Azure NixOS Test User";
+    openssh.authorizedKeys.keys = [ (builtins.readFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) ];
+  };
+  nix.trustedUsers = [ username ];
 
   virtualisation.azureImage.diskSize = 2500;
 
   system.stateVersion = "20.03";
-  networking.hostName = "azbuildworld";
   boot.kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
 
-  #environment.noXlibs = true;
-  #documentation.enable = false;
-  #documentation.nixos.enable = false;
-
+  # test user doesn't have a password
   services.openssh.passwordAuthentication = false;
-  programs.mosh.enable = true;
-
   security.sudo.wheelNeedsPassword = false;
-    
+
   environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
-    git neovim jq file htop ripgrep cachix wget curl tmux zsh
+    git file htop wget curl
   ];
 }