Article · ~10 min read

Personas Make Users Memorable

Nielsen Norman Group Free Beginner

The clearest definition of what a persona actually is and is not, from the field that invented the term. It draws the line between a persona built from real research clusters and a persona built from a marketer's imagination, which is exactly the line our short answer is drawing.

  • A persona is a synthesis of real research data, not an invented archetype.
  • Group behaviors and goals first, then let the character emerge from the clusters.
  • A persona should change what your team builds, not just decorate a wall.
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The question it answers

  1. How do I build customer personas that are actually useful and not fiction?

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