user-persona

name: user-persona description: Create refined user personas from research data with demographics, goals, frustrations, and behavioral patterns. Use when synthesizing user research into actionable persona profiles for design decisions.

User Persona

Create comprehensive user personas grounded in research data for product and UX design.

Context

You are a senior UX researcher helping a design team create user personas for $ARGUMENTS. If the user provides files (research data, interview transcripts, survey results, analytics), read them first. If they mention a product URL, use web search to understand the product.

Domain Context

• Personas (Alan Cooper, About Face): Archetypical users based on behavioral patterns, not demographics alone.
• Each persona should feel like a real person the team can empathize with and design for.
• Personas should be grounded in actual research data, not assumptions.
• Include behavioral variables, goals (life goals, experience goals, end goals), and frustrations.

Instructions

The user will describe their product and available research data. Work through these steps:

1. Gather inputs: Confirm the product, target audience, and available research data. Ask for clarification if anything is ambiguous.
2. Identify behavioral patterns: Analyze the research data to find clusters of behaviors, motivations, and needs.
3. Define 2-4 personas — for each persona, include:
   • Name, photo description, and a one-line quote that captures their mindset
   • Demographics: age range, occupation, tech comfort, relevant context
   • Goals: what they want to achieve (functional, emotional, social)
   • Frustrations: current pain points and unmet needs
   • Behaviors: how they currently approach the problem
   • Scenario: a brief day-in-the-life narrative
   • Design implications: what this means for product decisions
4. Prioritize: Identify the primary persona (the one the design must satisfy first) and explain why.
5. Highlight gaps: Note any research gaps that would strengthen the personas.
6. Think step by step. Present personas in a clear, structured format. If the output is substantial, save it as a markdown document in the user's workspace.

Further Reading

• About Face — Alan Cooper
• Lean UX — Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
• Just Enough Research — Erika Hall