What should a user persona include?

Who the person is in their role, the one goal they are trying to achieve, the main blocker in their way, and how they make decisions. Each field should trace back to real research, not assumption.

What is the difference between a user persona and a buyer persona?

A user persona describes the person who uses the product day to day; a buyer persona describes the person who approves the purchase. They are often different people, and a B2B product usually needs both. The template fields are the same; the goals differ.

How many personas should a product have?

Few. Three to five is typical. Each persona should change a real decision — what to build, how to message it, who to interview next. A persona that does not change a decision is documentation no one reads.

How do I keep a persona from becoming fiction?

Ground every field in evidence and link it. Interview notes, support tickets, usage data. Review personas when the research refreshes, and keep them in a wiki next to the notes they came from so the chain of reasoning stays visible.

User Persona Template — Template

TL;DR. A user persona is four parts — who they are, their goal, their blocker, and how they decide. Each part is grounded in research, not invented at a whiteboard. Copy the body of this page into a wiki page, one per persona, and link the evidence.

A persona is a decision-making tool, not a character sketch. It earns its place when it changes what you build, how you message it, or who you interview next. Keep it short, keep it sourced, and retire any persona that has stopped changing decisions.

What a user persona includes

Who. Role, context, and the relevant slice of their day.
Goal. The one thing they are trying to get done.
Blocker. The main thing in the way today.
How they decide. The evidence they need and who else is involved.

How to use this template

Copy the body below into a new wiki page — one per persona.
Fill each field from research notes, not assumption.
Name one goal and one blocker. Resist listing five.
Capture how they decide and who else is in the room.
Link each claim back to the note it came from.

The template — copy from here

`<Persona name — a role, not a real person: "Ops Lead Olu">`

Role and context: <What they do, team size, what their week looks like.>
Slice that matters: <The part of their job your product touches.>

Goal

<The single most important thing they are trying to achieve. One sentence.>

Blocker

<The main thing standing in the way today — the workaround they use, the cost of it.>

How they decide

Evidence they need to adopt: <a free trial, a security review, a peer recommendation>
Others involved: <who approves, who can veto>
Where they look: <how they find tools like yours>

Evidence

<Link to interview note / ticket / usage data backing the goal.>
<Link backing the blocker.>

Common questions

What should it include? Who, goal, blocker, and how they decide — each sourced.

User persona versus buyer persona? The user uses the product; the buyer approves it. Often different people; a B2B product usually needs both.

How many personas? Three to five. Each must change a real decision.

Keep personas next to the research they came from, and link them from the briefs that cite them. Pair this with the Competitive Analysis Template and the Product Brief Template, or browse the full template library.