Stop 03 · User Research & DiscoveryTopics · 3/12

User Personas

In short

"Users" is a blur. A persona turns research into one believable person your whole team can picture, so debates become "would Priya use this?" instead of opinions.

Composite, research-backed profiles representing distinct user segments — useful shorthand for a team, but only as good as the research behind them.

The purple blob wears headphones at a radio studio mic, imagining one tired listener on a bus.

Think of it like this

The radio jockey's one listener

A good RJ doesn't talk to "the city". They picture one listener stuck in traffic after a long day, and talk to just that person. Everyone listening feels spoken to. A persona gives your team that one listener.

Watch it happen

Inside a persona built from research

Priya, 2nd year

Goal: top 10%

Pain: scattered notes

Studies on phone

Asks seniors first

1/4A name, a stage of life and a short quote. Enough to feel real, built from patterns across many interviews.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Built from research

Every detail should trace back to real interviews or data. A made-up persona is just your own bias with a name.

Goals over demographics

Age and city matter less than what the person is trying to do and what blocks them.

Few, not many

Two or three primary personas is plenty. Ten personas means the team can't hold any of them in mind.

Use them in decisions

Pin them up, mention them in specs, and ask which persona each feature is for.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Writing a persona in a meeting from guesses about "typical users".

Do this instead

Interview real people first. Write the persona from patterns you heard more than once.

Oops

Filling it with fun details like favourite food and zodiac sign.

Do this instead

Keep only details that change design decisions: goals, pains, context and habits.

Your mission

Draft a persona from real people

~40 min

Quick check

Which detail is most useful in a persona for a study app?

Go deeper

1Build one persona from real interview notes, not assumptions.
2Critique a generic 'Sarah, 28, busy professional' persona and identify what's missing.
3Learn when personas help (team alignment) vs when they mislead (treated as real individuals).