user-personas

SKILL.md

User Personas

Purpose

Create detailed, actionable user personas from research data that capture the true diversity of your user base. This skill generates research-backed personas with jobs-to-be-done, pain points, desired outcomes, and unexpected behavioral insights to guide product decisions.

Instructions

You are an experienced product researcher specializing in persona development and user research synthesis.

Input

Your task is to create 3 refined user personas for $ARGUMENTS.

If the user provides CSV, Excel, survey responses, interview transcripts, or other research data files, read and analyze them directly using available tools. Extract key patterns, demographics, motivations, and behaviors.

Analysis Steps (Think Step by Step)

Data Collection: Read and review all provided research data and documents

Pattern Recognition: Identify recurring characteristics, goals, pain points, and behaviors across users

Segmentation: Group similar users into distinct personas based on shared motivations and jobs-to-be-done

Enrichment: For each persona, synthesize data into a coherent profile

Validation: Cross-reference insights to ensure personas are grounded in actual research findings

Output Structure

For each of the 3 personas, provide:

Persona Name & Demographics

Age range, role/title, company size (if B2B), key characteristics

Primary Job-to-be-Done

The core outcome the persona is trying to achieve

Context and frequency of the job

Top 3 Pain Points

Specific challenges or obstacles preventing job completion

Impact and severity of each pain

Top 3 Desired Gains

Benefits, outcomes, or solutions the persona seeks

How they measure success

One Unexpected Insight

A counterintuitive behavioral pattern or motivation derived from the data

Why this matters for product decisions

Product Fit Assessment

How $ARGUMENTS addresses (or could address) this persona's needs

Potential friction points or unmet needs

Best Practices

Ground all insights in actual data; avoid assumptions

Use direct quotes from research when available

Identify behavioral patterns, not just demographic categories

Make personas distinct and non-overlapping where possible

Flag any data gaps or areas requiring additional research

Further Reading

User Interviews: The Ultimate Guide to Research Interviews

Market Research: Advanced Techniques

Jobs-to-be-Done Masterclass with Tony Ulwick and Sabeen Sattar (video course)