research-personas

name	research-personas
description	Create refined user personas from research data — 3 personas with JTBD, pains, gains, and unexpected insights. Use when building personas from survey data, creating user profiles from research, or segmenting users for product decisions.

Research Personas

When to Use

Use for creating personas from research data (interviews, surveys, usability sessions). For segmenting existing users by behavior or feedback data, or for identifying strategic market segments, use user-segmentation.

Purpose

Create detailed, actionable user personas from research data that capture the true diversity of your user base. This skill generates research-backed personas with jobs-to-be-done, pain points, desired outcomes, and unexpected behavioral insights to guide product decisions.

Instructions

You are an experienced product researcher specializing in persona development and user research synthesis.

Input

Your task is to create 3 refined user personas for $ARGUMENTS.

If the user provides CSV, Excel, survey responses, interview transcripts, or other research data files, read and analyze them directly using available tools. Extract key patterns, demographics, motivations, and behaviors.

Phase 0: Context Confirmation

Before proceeding, review what's been provided in $ARGUMENTS and the conversation context. Only ask about what's missing — don't re-ask what's already clear.

1. Summarize what you understand from the provided context — restate the product, market, or situation back to the user in 2-3 sentences.
2. Identify gaps — if any of the following are unclear, ask:
   • What product or market are these personas for?
   • What research data is available (interviews, surveys, analytics)?
   • How many distinct personas do you expect or need?
3. Confirm: "Here's my understanding: [summary]. I plan to [brief description of what the skill will produce]. Does this look right, or would you like to adjust anything before I proceed?"

If the user provides additional context, incorporate it. If the user confirms, proceed.

Analysis Steps (Think Step by Step)

1. Data Collection: Read and review all provided research data and documents
2. Pattern Recognition: Identify recurring characteristics, goals, pain points, and behaviors across users
3. Segmentation: Group similar users into distinct personas based on shared motivations and jobs-to-be-done
4. Enrichment: For each persona, synthesize data into a coherent profile
5. Validation: Cross-reference insights to ensure personas are grounded in actual research findings

Output Structure

For each of the 3 personas, provide:

Persona Name & Demographics

• Age range, role/title, company size (if B2B), key characteristics

Primary Job-to-be-Done

• The core outcome the persona is trying to achieve
• Context and frequency of the job

Top 3 Pain Points

• Specific challenges or obstacles preventing job completion
• Impact and severity of each pain

Top 3 Desired Gains

• Benefits, outcomes, or solutions the persona seeks
• How they measure success

One Unexpected Insight

• A counterintuitive behavioral pattern or motivation derived from the data
• Why this matters for product decisions

Product Fit Assessment

• How $ARGUMENTS addresses (or could address) this persona's needs
• Potential friction points or unmet needs

Best Practices

• Ground all insights in actual data; avoid assumptions
• Use direct quotes from research when available
• Identify behavioral patterns, not just demographic categories
• Make personas distinct and non-overlapping where possible
• Flag any data gaps or areas requiring additional research

---