User personas 101

User personas divide opinion. Some teams see them as essential tools for creating user-centred content. Others dismiss them as oversimplified stereotypes that waste time and reinforce assumptions. The truth, as usual, sits somewhere in between. When based on solid research and used thoughtfully, personas can help content teams make better decisions. When created poorly or treated as fixed truths, they can do more harm than good.

In this beginner-friendly guide, we'll explain what user personas are, why they matter, and how to create ones that actually get used.

User personas are detailed profiles that represent different segments of your audience. They're based on research about real users – their goals, behaviours, challenges and contexts. A persona typically includes demographics, motivations, pain points and the tasks they're trying to accomplish.

At their core, personas answer these questions:

• Who are we creating content for?
• What are they trying to achieve?
• What challenges do they face?
• How do they prefer to consume information?

A university might have personas for prospective undergraduate students, postgraduate researchers, and parents helping with course selection. Each group has different needs, asks different questions and engages with content differently.

Good personas are based on actual user research, not internal assumptions. They help teams make decisions by asking "would this work for Sarah, our mature student persona?" rather than debating personal preferences.

Without personas, teams create content based on guesswork. You might write for the wrong audience, use language that doesn't resonate, or miss critical user needs entirely. But personas do more than just guide content creation.

Personas create better content decisions by providing a clear picture of who you're writing for, what they need and how to help them. This means less time debating and more time creating effective content.

They improve user experience because when you understand your users' goals and challenges, you can anticipate their needs and create content that genuinely helps them succeed.

Teams achieve shared understanding when everyone works from the same user profiles. Designers, writers and strategists all reference the same personas, ensuring consistency across the user journey.

Your content becomes more focused and relevant. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, you create targeted content that speaks directly to specific user needs.

Personas help justify content decisions to stakeholders. Rather than saying "I think users want this", you can say "our research shows that this persona needs this information at this stage".

They identify content gaps by revealing unmet needs or underserved user groups, helping you prioritise what to create next.

Put simply, personas turn vague ideas about "users" into concrete, actionable profiles that improve how you create and structure content.

Good personas include these six elements:

1. Demographics and background

Basic information like age range, education level, location and role. Keep this relevant to their content needs – not every detail matters.

2. Goals and motivations

What are they trying to achieve? What drives their decisions? A prospective student persona might have goals like "find a course that leads to good career prospects" or "study close to home".

3. Challenges and pain points

What obstacles do they face? What frustrates them? This helps you address real problems through your content.

4. Behaviours and preferences

How do they search for information? What devices do they use? Do they prefer video content or detailed written guides?

5. Context and circumstances

What's happening in their life when they encounter your content? A parent researching universities might be juggling work, managing their own anxiety and supporting their child's decision.

6. Core questions they ask

What specific questions does this persona need answered? This directly informs your content topics and information architecture.

If you're creating personas for the first time or fixing ones that gather dust, here's a process to create useful personas:

Base personas on evidence, not assumptions. This includes user interviews, surveys, analytics data, customer service enquiries and existing research. Look for patterns in how different user groups behave and what they need.

Look for meaningful differences in goals, behaviours or needs. Don't create personas based solely on demographics – focus on what makes their content needs different.

For each persona, document their background, goals, challenges, behaviours and questions. Include a name and photo to make them memorable, but remember they represent real user segments, not fictional characters.

Test your personas against actual user behaviour. Do real users recognise themselves in these profiles? Do the personas accurately reflect user needs?

Create formats that teams will actually reference – one-page summaries, posters, or digital versions. If personas live in a forgotten document, they won't influence decisions.

User needs change. Review personas annually or when you notice shifts in user behaviour, new user groups emerging or feedback that doesn't match existing personas.

Personas aren't universally loved, so it's worth understanding the legitimate criticisms before investing time in creating them.

Some practitioners argue that personas can be reductive, turning complex, diverse users into stereotypical characters. A "busy mum" persona might reinforce gender stereotypes or oversimplify the varied lives of parents using your content.

Personas can become outdated quickly if they're based on old research or assumptions. Teams sometimes treat them as fixed truths rather than working hypotheses that need regular validation.

There's also the risk of personas becoming an excuse to avoid talking to real users. Teams might say "our persona Sarah would want this" without actually checking with real users whether that's true.

Personas can also mask diversity within user groups. Not all 18-year-old students have the same needs, but a persona might suggest they do.

Consider whether personas are the right tool if:

• You have very limited user research to base them on – personas built on guesswork are worse than having none at all.
• Your audience is highly diverse with few common patterns – sometimes user needs are so varied that personas oversimplify rather than clarify.
• Your team is already user-focused and regularly talks to real users – personas are a proxy for user understanding, not a replacement for it.
• You're in a fast-moving market where user needs shift rapidly – the time spent creating and maintaining personas might be better spent on continuous user research.

Some teams prefer jobs-to-be-done frameworks, which focus on the specific tasks users are trying to accomplish rather than demographic profiles. Others use journey maps or mental models that capture user behaviour without creating persona profiles.

The key is matching your approach to your team's needs and ensuring whatever method you choose is actually used to improve decision-making.

Don't create too many personas. Start with 3 to 5 primary personas. Too many makes them impossible to remember and use effectively.

Avoid basing personas on assumptions rather than research. Your team's beliefs about users might be wrong.

Make sure personas focus on user needs, not what you want users to do. A persona should help you serve users better, not just achieve your business goals.

Remember that personas aren't a one-off project – they need regular review and updates as your audience evolves.

Don't let personas gather dust. If teams aren't using them in content planning and creation, find out why and adjust accordingly.

A university might create these personas:

Goals: Find a course with strong employment prospects, understand career paths

Challenges: Overwhelmed by choice, worried about making the wrong decision

Questions: "What jobs can I get with this degree?", "How much do graduates earn?"

Goals: Retrain for a career change while managing family commitments

Challenges: Balancing study with work and family, concerned about fitting in

Questions: "Can I study part-time?", "What support is available for mature students?"

These personas help the content team decide what information to prioritise on course pages, what questions to answer in their content and how to structure the student journey.

Good user personas transform how teams create content. They replace assumptions with evidence, settle debates with user needs, and ensure content genuinely serves the people who need it. If your content isn't landing with your audience, personas might be the missing piece.