persona-mapping

Build user models that actually inform decisions.

How to use

• /persona-mapping Apply persona constraints to this conversation.

Constraints

What a Persona Must Include

• Motivation: what drives them to seek this product
• Context: when and where they encounter the problem
• Current solution: what they do today (including doing nothing)
• Decision trigger: what would make them switch
• Success metric: how they'd know this product is working for them
• NEVER include demographics unless they directly affect product behavior

What a Persona Must NOT Be

• A demographic profile with a stock photo
• An aspirational user you wish you had
• A composite of all users (that's nobody)
• Static. Personas should update as you learn more.

Usage Rules

• MUST have no more than 3 primary personas for any product
• MUST prioritize: which persona do you serve first?
• SHOULD include an "anti-persona" (who this product is NOT for)
• Every feature decision should reference which persona benefits
• Conflicting persona needs MUST be resolved by priority, not by compromise

Anti-Patterns

• Personas without behavioral differences (if they'd use the product the same way, they're one persona)
• Creating personas before talking to real users
• Personas that live in a document nobody reads
• Designing for the edge case persona instead of the primary one