user-personas
Scannednpx machina-cli add skill phuryn/pm-skills/user-personas --openclawUser 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
Source
git clone https://github.com/phuryn/pm-skills/blob/main/pm-market-research/skills/user-personas/SKILL.mdView on GitHub Overview
The User Personas skill turns research data into three refined personas that capture JTBD, pains, gains, and unexpected insights. These profiles are grounded in survey data, interviews, and transcripts to guide product decisions and strategy. Each persona includes actionable detail designed to inform features, messaging, and prioritization.
How This Skill Works
Follow the Data-to-Persona flow: collect all research data, extract patterns, and segment users into three distinct personas based on JTBD, pains, and gains. Enrich each persona with an unexpected insight and a clear product-fit assessment, then validate against the evidence.
When to Use It
- When turning survey responses or interview transcripts into actionable user profiles.
- When you need three distinct personas for strategy and feature prioritization.
- When segmenting users for product decisions or go-to-market planning.
- When aligning cross-functional teams around true user needs.
- When validating personas against research findings to ensure grounding.
Quick Start
- Step 1: Collect research data (CSV exports, survey responses, interview transcripts).
- Step 2: Identify patterns and segment users into three distinct personas with JTBD, pains, and gains.
- Step 3: Add one unexpected insight and a product-fit assessment for each persona; validate with the data.
Best Practices
- Ground all insights in actual data; attach direct quotes from research when available.
- Identify behavioral patterns, not just surface demographics.
- Ensure personas are distinct and non-overlapping to avoid role confusion.
- Flag data gaps and note areas requiring additional research.
- Document each persona’s Jobs-to-be-Done, pains, gains, and one unexpected insight clearly and consistently.
Example Use Cases
- Example 1: From survey data for a SaaS analytics platform, generate three personas with JTBDs, pains, gains, and an unexpected insight.
- Example 2: Use personas to segment users for feature prioritization and onboarding improvements in a B2B product.
- Example 3: Validate persona outputs against interview transcripts to ensure they reflect real user behavior.
- Example 4: Apply personas to craft targeted messaging and pricing scenarios for different segments.
- Example 5: Identify data gaps during synthesis and plan follow-up research to refine the personas.
