User Persona Template

Who They Are

Paint a picture of this person. The goal is not demographics for their own sake — it is enough context that the team can empathize with their situation and make decisions on their behalf.

What They Are Trying to Accomplish

Primary Goals

What outcomes is this person measured on? What does success look like in their role? These are the things they will pay for, switch products for, and champion internally.

1. Primary goal: The outcome they care about most

2. Secondary goal: Another important outcome

3. Aspirational goal: What they wish they could do but can't today

Jobs to Be Done

Frame their needs as jobs: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [expected outcome]."

Pain Points & Frustrations

What blocks this persona from achieving their goals? Be specific — vague pain points lead to vague solutions.

How They Work Today

Map the tools and workflows this persona currently uses. Understanding their existing ecosystem reveals integration requirements, switching costs, and opportunities to fit into their flow rather than disrupting it.

How They Discover & Evaluate

Understanding the buying journey helps marketing, sales, and product work together. What triggers them to look for a solution, and what convinces them to choose one?

Discovery

• Where do they go when they have a problem? (Google, peers, communities, analysts, social media)

• Who influences their decisions? (Manager, team, external advisors, online reviews)

• What content do they consume? (Blog posts, case studies, podcasts, conference talks, documentation)

Evaluation Criteria

When comparing solutions, what matters most to this persona? Rank these in order of importance.

1. Most important criterion (e.g., ease of setup, price, integration with existing stack)

2. Second most important

3. Third most important

4. Dealbreaker: What would immediately disqualify a solution?

Buying Process

Quotes & Evidence

Ground the persona in real data. Include direct quotes from user interviews, support tickets, or survey responses. These are the most persuasive part of a persona — they make the person real to engineers and designers who haven't met them.

"Paste a real quote from a user interview that captures this persona's primary frustration or goal." — User role, company type

"Another quote that reveals how they think about the problem or evaluate solutions." — User role, company type

"A quote that shows what would delight them — what "great" looks like in their words." — User role, company type

Persona in Action

Describe a realistic scenario where this persona encounters your product. Walk through their day, the trigger that brings them to your product, and what a great experience looks like.

A Day in Their Life

Write 3-5 sentences describing a typical workday for this persona, focusing on the moments relevant to your product. What are they doing before and after they use (or would use) your product?

Trigger Moment

What specific event or frustration causes them to seek out your product? This is the moment your marketing needs to intercept and your product needs to deliver on.

Success Scenario

Describe what happens when everything goes right. They discover your product, onboard, and achieve their goal. What does that experience feel like? What do they tell their colleague about it afterward?

Design & Product Implications

Translate the persona insights into actionable guidance for the product and design team.

• Features this persona values most and would pay for

• Features this persona does NOT need (avoid building for them)

• UX considerations: complexity tolerance, preferred interaction style, accessibility needs

• Messaging: what language resonates, what turns them off

Validation Status

A persona is a living hypothesis. Track how well-validated each component is and what research is planned.