Method guide · Work with a structured grid
Proto-Persona
Use when an early-stage team needs a shared, provisional picture of its users before deciding which needs to address.
- People
- 3–12
- Base procedure time
- 60 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Explore through dialogue; Generate ideas.
English guide
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How this method works
Create provisional user profiles as a shared language for early development. Use when team members use different names for their target users and repeatedly change their minds about whether a feature is needed. Pool profiles from inquiry records and existing research, name them, and fill in goals and barriers using the same format. A name can then refer to both the person and their context. The outputs are a list of named hypothesis-based personas and one person whose needs take priority. This is not suitable when research with actual users is already complete, or when one person’s speculation alone determines the profiles.
Phase schedule
Minutes are cumulative from the start of the base plan, not a live timer. Read scaling for any additional time. Phase controls do not advance automatically.
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- Pool user profiles0–10 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Pool. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Name the people10–18 minutes from the start (8 minutes)
Action: Name. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Fill in goals and barriers18–42 minutes from the start (24 minutes)
Action: Fill. Participation: Groups of 3–5.
Shared record
- Select the priority persona42–60 minutes from the start (18 minutes)
Action: Select. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 10 minutes, pool user clusters as a whole group, drawing on inquiry records and records of how the service is used.
- For 8 minutes, name each cluster together so that its name conveys the person’s character.
- For 24 minutes, work in groups of 3–5, choose the person assigned to your group, and fill in their goals and barriers in the template.
- For 18 minutes, display all profiles and select one person whose needs should be addressed first.
If something changes
If
After 5 minutes of pooling profiles, fewer than 2 proposals have emerged.
Then
Read one actual example from the inquiry records and add proposals starting with the person in that example.
If
A group’s barriers field is still empty while goals and barriers are being filled in.
Then
Ask the group to recall one situation in which that person uses the service, then write just one difficulty encountered there.
If
Votes are evenly distributed across all personas when choosing the priority person.
Then
Initially narrow the choice to the person with the highest number of recent inquiries, then discuss from there.
Preparation
Materials
- Persona sheets: one A4 sheet per group of 3–5, with fields for name, goals, barriers and quotations
- Sticky notes: about 10 per person
- Dark pens: one per person
Room and setup
- Island tables for groups of 3–5: one table per group, with participants distributed evenly
- One wall area at least 150 cm wide, where all profiles can be displayed together
Adjust for people and time
With fewer than 3 people, dialogue that generates multiple user profiles does not work. For 3–12 people, divide the participant count by 5 and round up to obtain the number of groups, then distribute people evenly into groups of 3–5. If the user clusters outnumber the groups, first merge similar clusters into one and then allocate them to match the group count.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Do not let one person’s speculation alone determine the profiles. The personas remain hypotheses; this method is not suitable for a project in which actual user research is already complete.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Darpan Sunwar; Spencer Stolworthy: Proto-Persona
https://openpracticelibrary.com/practice/proto-persona/
CC BY 4.0 adaptation; changes made
- CC BY 4.0
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Credits on the checked source page
- Named contributors on the source page: Darpan Sunwar, Spencer Stolworthy
- Contributors listed in the official practice source (repository handles): @dsunwar, @sdstolworthy
Source page checked on 2026-10-17: Proto-Persona.
Source lineage
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