# User Research & Personas
## Purpose
Generate comprehensive user research insights and detailed personas that drive user-centered product decisions. This section should provide deep understanding of target users, their needs, behaviors, and contexts to inform all product development activities.
## Required Information
Before generating this section, ensure you have:
- [ ] Primary user research data (interviews, surveys, observations)
- [ ] User demographic and psychographic information
- [ ] User journey mapping and behavioral data
- [ ] Pain points and needs analysis
- [ ] User goals and motivations
- [ ] Usage context and environmental factors
## Section Structure
### 1. Research Methodology & Data Sources
**Template:**
**Research Methods Used**:
- [Method 1]: [Sample size], [timeframe], [key findings]
- [Method 2]: [Sample size], [timeframe], [key findings]
**Data Sources**:
- Primary Research: [Details of original research conducted]
- Secondary Research: [External studies and data sources]
- Analytics Data: [Behavioral data from existing products/sites]
**Research Limitations**: [Constraints and potential biases in data]
**Confidence Level**: [How confident we are in the findings]
**Requirements:**
- Clear methodology documentation
- Appropriate sample sizes for statistical significance
- Mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods
- Acknowledgment of research limitations and biases
- Credible data sources with proper attribution
**Research Methods to Consider:**
- User interviews (1-on-1, group)
- Surveys and questionnaires
- Observational studies
- Usability testing
- Card sorting and tree testing
- A/B testing and experiments
- Analytics and behavioral data analysis
- Competitive user research
**Validation Questions:**
- Is the research methodology appropriate for the questions being asked?
- Are sample sizes sufficient for reliable conclusions?
- Have potential biases been identified and addressed?
### 2. User Segmentation & Classification
**Template:**
**Segmentation Criteria**: [How users are grouped - behavioral, demographic, needs-based]
**Primary Segments**:
- [Segment 1]: [Size], [characteristics], [key differentiators]
- [Segment 2]: [Size], [characteristics], [key differentiators]
**Segment Prioritization**: [Which segments to focus on and why]
**Segment Validation**: [Evidence supporting segment definitions]
**Requirements:**
- Clear segmentation criteria and rationale
- Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive segments
- Quantified segment sizes and characteristics
- Evidence-based segment validation
- Strategic prioritization of target segments
**Segmentation Approaches:**
- Demographic (age, income, location, company size)
- Behavioral (usage patterns, feature adoption, engagement)
- Psychographic (values, attitudes, lifestyle)
- Needs-based (problems, goals, use cases)
- Technographic (technology adoption, digital literacy)
**Validation Questions:**
- Are segments actionable for product and marketing decisions?
- Do segments represent meaningful differences in needs or behaviors?
- Can segments be effectively reached and served?
### 3. Detailed User Personas
**For each primary persona, include:**
#### Persona Template:
## [Persona Name] - "[Persona Tagline]"
**Demographics**:
- Age: [Range]
- Location: [Geographic details]
- Education: [Level and field]
- Income: [Range]
- Job Title/Role: [Professional context]
- Family Status: [Relevant personal details]
**Psychographics**:
- Values: [What's important to them]
- Attitudes: [Perspectives and beliefs]
- Lifestyle: [How they live and spend time]
- Personality Traits: [Key characteristics]
**Technology Profile**:
- Digital Literacy: [Comfort level with technology]
- Device Usage: [Primary devices and platforms]
- Software/App Usage: [Relevant tools and applications]
- Communication Preferences: [How they prefer to interact]
**Goals & Motivations**:
- Primary Goals: [What they're trying to achieve]
- Secondary Goals: [Additional objectives]
- Motivations: [Why these goals matter to them]
- Success Metrics: [How they measure success]
**Pain Points & Frustrations**:
- Current Problems: [Specific issues they face]
- Workarounds: [How they currently cope]
- Emotional Impact: [How problems make them feel]
- Cost of Problems: [Time, money, effort impact]
**Behavioral Patterns**:
- Daily Routines: [Relevant daily activities]
- Decision-Making Process: [How they make choices]
- Information Sources: [Where they get information]
- Influence Networks: [Who influences their decisions]
**Context & Environment**:
- Usage Context: [When/where they would use the product]
- Environmental Factors: [Physical and social context]
- Constraints: [Limitations they face]
- Support Systems: [Available help and resources]
**Product Relationship**:
- Current Solutions: [How they solve problems today]
- Feature Priorities: [Most important product capabilities]
- Adoption Barriers: [What might prevent usage]
- Success Scenarios: [What success looks like for them]
**Requirements for Each Persona:**
- Based on real research data, not assumptions
- Specific and detailed enough to guide design decisions
- Include both rational and emotional aspects
- Address the full context of product usage
- Highlight unique needs and differentiators
**Validation Questions:**
- Is each persona based on actual user research data?
- Are personas distinct enough to drive different product decisions?
- Do personas represent significant user segments?
### 4. User Journey Mapping
**Template:**
**Journey Stages**: [Awareness → Consideration → Trial → Adoption → Advocacy]
For each stage:
**[Stage Name]**:
- User Actions: [What users do]
- Touchpoints: [Where they interact with product/brand]
- Thoughts: [What they're thinking]
- Emotions: [How they're feeling]
- Pain Points: [Problems encountered]
- Opportunities: [Improvement possibilities]
**Requirements:**
- Complete end-to-end journey mapping
- Multiple journey variations for different personas
- Emotional journey alongside functional journey
- Identification of key moments of truth
- Opportunity identification for product improvement
**Journey Mapping Elements:**
- Pre-product awareness and problem recognition
- Product discovery and evaluation
- Trial and onboarding experience
- Regular usage and engagement
- Advanced usage and mastery
- Advocacy and referral behavior
**Validation Questions:**
- Are journeys based on observed user behavior?
- Do journeys capture both rational and emotional aspects?
- Have key pain points and opportunities been identified?
### 5. User Needs & Requirements Analysis
**Template:**
**Functional Needs**: [What users need the product to do]
**Emotional Needs**: [How users need to feel when using the product]
**Social Needs**: [How the product affects their social interactions]
**Need Prioritization**:
- Must-Have: [Critical needs that must be met]
- Should-Have: [Important needs that significantly improve experience]
- Could-Have: [Nice-to-have needs that add value]
**Unmet Needs**: [Needs not addressed by current solutions]
**Latent Needs**: [Needs users haven't explicitly expressed]
**Requirements:**
- Comprehensive needs identification across all dimensions
- Evidence-based need validation
- Clear prioritization with rationale
- Identification of unmet and latent needs
- Connection between needs and product opportunities
**Needs Categories:**
- Functional (what the product must do)
- Usability (how easy it must be to use)
- Reliability (how dependable it must be)
- Performance (how fast/efficient it must be)
- Emotional (how it should make users feel)
- Social (how it affects relationships and status)
**Validation Questions:**
- Are needs based on user research rather than assumptions?
- Have both explicit and implicit needs been identified?
- Is need prioritization aligned with user value and business goals?
### 6. Usage Scenarios & Use Cases
**Template:**
**Primary Use Cases**:
- [Use Case 1]: [Context], [user goal], [steps], [success criteria]
- [Use Case 2]: [Context], [user goal], [steps], [success criteria]
**Edge Cases**:
- [Edge Case 1]: [Unusual but important scenarios]
- [Edge Case 2]: [Error conditions and recovery]
**Usage Frequency**: [How often each scenario occurs]
**Usage Context**: [Environmental and situational factors]
**Requirements:**
- Comprehensive scenario coverage
- Realistic and specific use case descriptions
- Consideration of edge cases and error conditions
- Context-aware scenario development
- Frequency and importance weighting
**Scenario Elements:**
- User context and starting conditions
- Specific goals and motivations
- Step-by-step user actions
- Expected outcomes and success criteria
- Potential obstacles and alternatives
**Validation Questions:**
- Do scenarios reflect real user workflows?
- Have edge cases and error conditions been considered?
- Are scenarios specific enough to guide design decisions?
## Quality Criteria
### Research Quality
- [ ] **Methodological Rigor**: Appropriate research methods with sufficient sample sizes
- [ ] **Data Validity**: Research findings are accurate and reliable
- [ ] **Bias Awareness**: Potential biases identified and addressed
- [ ] **Source Credibility**: Data from reputable and relevant sources
- [ ] **Recency**: Research reflects current user behaviors and needs
### Persona Quality
- [ ] **Research-Based**: Personas grounded in actual user data
- [ ] **Actionable**: Detailed enough to guide product decisions
- [ ] **Distinct**: Each persona represents meaningfully different user needs
- [ ] **Complete**: Covers all relevant aspects of user context and behavior
- [ ] **Empathetic**: Helps team members understand and relate to users
## Cross-Reference Requirements
Ensure alignment with:
- **Product Overview**: Target user definition and market positioning
- **Market Analysis**: Customer analysis and segmentation
- **Product Requirements**: User needs driving feature requirements
- **UX Design**: User-centered design principles and guidelines
- **Success Metrics**: User-focused KPIs and measurement
- **Implementation Plan**: User research informing development priorities
## Information Gathering Questions
If user research data is missing, ask:
### User Demographics & Context
1. Who are the target users (age, role, location, etc.)?
2. What is their professional and personal context?
3. What technology do they currently use?
4. What are their communication preferences?
### User Behavior & Needs
5. What problems are users trying to solve?
6. How do they currently address these problems?
7. What are their main goals and motivations?
8. What frustrates them about current solutions?
### Usage Context
9. When and where would they use this product?
10. What constraints do they face (time, budget, technical)?
11. Who else is involved in their decision-making?
12. What would success look like for them?
### Research Validation
13. What user research has been conducted?
14. How many users were interviewed/surveyed?
15. What were the key findings and insights?
16. What assumptions need further validation?
## Common Pitfalls to Avoid
### Research Pitfalls
- **Assumption-based personas**: Creating personas without user research
- **Confirmation bias**: Only seeking data that confirms existing beliefs
- **Small sample sizes**: Drawing conclusions from insufficient data
- **Leading questions**: Biasing research participants toward desired answers
- **Outdated research**: Using old data that doesn't reflect current users
### Persona Pitfalls
- **Generic personas**: Creating vague, non-actionable user descriptions
- **Stereotype reinforcement**: Relying on assumptions rather than research
- **Too many personas**: Creating so many personas that they become unusable
- **Demographic focus**: Overemphasizing demographics vs. behaviors and needs
- **Static personas**: Failing to update personas as users evolve
## Edge Case Handling
### Limited User Access
- Use proxy research methods (surveys, analytics)
- Leverage existing customer support data
- Conduct competitive user research
- Use expert interviews and stakeholder insights
- Plan for iterative research as access improves
### Diverse User Base
- Create primary and secondary personas
- Focus on shared needs across diverse users
- Consider accessibility and inclusion requirements
- Plan for localization and cultural differences
- Use behavioral segmentation over demographic
### B2B vs B2C Considerations
- **B2B**: Include organizational context, decision-making processes, stakeholder influence
- **B2C**: Focus on personal motivations, lifestyle factors, emotional drivers
- **Both**: Consider the full ecosystem of users and influencers
### Emerging User Behaviors
- Monitor trends and changing behaviors
- Plan for user evolution and adaptation
- Include early adopters and mainstream users
- Consider generational differences
- Build flexibility into persona frameworks
## Validation Checklist
Before finalizing, verify:
- [ ] **Research Foundation**: All insights based on credible user research
- [ ] **Persona Completeness**: Each persona includes all required elements
- [ ] **Actionability**: Personas provide clear guidance for product decisions
- [ ] **Distinctiveness**: Personas represent meaningfully different user types
- [ ] **Journey Accuracy**: User journeys reflect observed behaviors
- [ ] **Need Validation**: User needs supported by research evidence
## Output Format
markdown
# User Research & Personas
## Research Methodology & Data Sources
[Research methodology content]
## User Segmentation & Classification
[Segmentation analysis content]
## Primary Personas
### [Persona 1 Name]
[Complete persona details]
### [Persona 2 Name]
[Complete persona details]
## User Journey Mapping
[Journey mapping content]
## User Needs & Requirements Analysis
[Needs analysis content]
## Usage Scenarios & Use Cases
[Scenarios and use cases content]
---
_Research conducted: [Date range]_
_Sample size: [Number of participants]_
_Next research update: [Planned refresh date]_
## Success Indicators
Successful user research and personas should:
- Enable empathetic, user-centered product decisions
- Provide clear guidance for feature prioritization
- Support effective user experience design
- Facilitate stakeholder alignment on user needs
- Serve as a reference for all product development activities