Stop 03 · UX ResearchTopics · 5/11

Personas & User Segmentation

In short

"Design for everyone" usually means designing for no one. Segments and personas help the team picture who exactly they're building for, as long as they come from real research.

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

The jaadu, as a caterer, arranges three different food counters for different groups of guests.

Think of it like this

A wedding caterer's plan

A caterer doesn't plan one menu for 500 guests. They think in groups: kids who want sweets, elders who need less spice, Jain guests with no onion or garlic. Each group gets planned for. That's segmentation.

Watch it happen

From all users to personas

All app users

Daily commuters

Trip planners

Students

Riya, 26, office

Mr Iyer, 54

Aman, 19, hostel

1/4Research shows your bus app's users are very different. Lumping them together hides that.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Segments come first

Group users by needs and behaviour. Demographics alone rarely explain what people do.

Personas are shorthand

A persona sums up a segment as one believable person, so the team remembers who they're designing for.

Research-backed only

A persona made up in a meeting is fiction. Base every detail on interviews or data.

See it in code

Walk through the code

text

1Persona: Riya, 26, daily office commuter2Segment: rides the same bus 2x a day3Goal: reach office by 9:00 without waiting long4Frustration: "The app says 5 min, then the bus never comes."5Context: checks the app one-handed while walking6Based on: 7 interviews, 1,200 survey replies

1/3Name and segment. The name is just a memory aid; the behaviour is what matters.

A lean persona. Short, specific and with its evidence listed at the bottom so nobody mistakes it for a guess.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Filling personas with fun facts like favourite food and star sign.

Do this instead

Keep only details that change design decisions: goals, frustrations, context and skills.

Oops

Making ten personas so nobody feels left out.

Do this instead

Pick two to four that matter most. Too many and the team stops using them.

Your mission

Build one evidence-based persona

~30 min

Quick check

What makes a persona useful rather than decorative?

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).