User Personas
In a planning meeting Arjun says "users want a dark mode", Tanvi says "users want fewer steps", and Kabir says "users want more books". Each of them is picturing a different "user", most likely themselves. A persona gives the whole team the same person to picture, but only if it is built on evidence.
The rule
A persona is research with a name, not an imagined customer.
A persona is a short profile of a typical user, built from patterns that repeat across real research. A useful one fits on a single page:
- Name and snapshot: Ananya, first-year, lives in the hostel, arrived two weeks ago.
- Goal: get her whole book list before the first assignments, as cheaply as possible.
- Frustrations: can't tell which edition her course uses; worried about being cheated by a stranger.
- Behaviours and context: asks seniors on WhatsApp; pays by phone; has about ₹2,500 for books.
- A real quote from research: "I bought the wrong edition once. Never again."
ReShelf needs at least two personas because it has two sides: Ananya, the first-year buyer, and Siddharth, the final-year seller, whose goal is to turn a shelf of old books into cash before he leaves campus, with as little effort as possible.
Before any research, teams often write a proto-persona: a first draft from the team's own assumptions, with every unproven line clearly marked. That is a fine start as long as the marks are honest, because the next three lessons (interviews, surveys and observation) are how you check them.
The shortcut
Every line must change a decision. For each line of a persona ask, "If this were different, would we build something different?" If not, delete it.
"Likes K-pop and street food"
Would ReShelf change if she liked jazz instead? No. Delete it.
The trap is the fictional persona: a detailed, charming character written from imagination. It feels real, so the team trusts it, and it quietly steers decisions with guesses.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
What makes a persona trustworthy?
Which persona line is worth keeping for ReShelf?
Why does ReShelf need both a buyer persona and a seller persona?
The team writes a persona before doing any research. What should they do with it?
Remember
- A persona is research with a name, not an imagined customer.
- Every line must change a decision; delete the rest and mark the guesses.
- Trap: a charming fictional persona that steers the team with untested guesses.