Creating User Personas in Design

Breaking into new personas in 2025? Here's how to leverage AI to build persona-based messaging. ⛔️ Mistake: Don't wing it with new personas. Don't set up your reps for failure. ✅ Step 1: Gather great data Persona creation is garbage in / garbage out. Feed AI with solid info: - Transcripts of sales calls - Competitor content - Key influencers to follow - Transcripts of customer calls ✅ Step 2: Feed into AI I like ChatGPT. But this can work with the others. Leverage this prompt: Take the attached [sales call transcripts, case studies, etc] and turn this into an Outbound Squad Messaging Matrix. The messaging should be written using the customer’s voice. This messaging matrix should be formatted into a table with these four columns: 1) Priorities Format this into a statement like this: [headline]. [outcome] + [avoid problem]. - Headline: What is top of mind for your prospect’s peers? Imagine you have a dozen of your prospects gathered in a room. All working at similar companies in the same role. What is top of mind for that entire group right now? What trends are they worried about or focused on? What do they want your help with? - Outcome: What outcomes do they want? What are the specific outcomes, metrics, or KPIs they want to improve? - Avoid problem: What problem do they want to avoid? What problem are they hoping to address or solve? Here's an example: Skill gaps & staffing. Find and attract the right talent to accomplish our IT business goals—while avoiding unnecessary costs and project delays. 2) Current solutions Now think about how the prospect is getting the job done. People: Are they hiring, reducing headcount, etc? Process: Are they implementing a specific process? Technology: Are they using technology? A competitor? 3) Problems Problems are what get in the way of priorities. This is what your prospect hopes their current solution will help with. This sounds like: “Manually processing payroll is labor intensive and frustrating for me.” But get to the impact on the business. This sounds like: “Our team is manually processing payroll across multiple systems. We need to hire extra employees just to handle the manual work, and we can’t hire as quickly as we need to. We won’t hit our hiring targets this year.” Help me define the problem in the customer's voice. 4) Aspirations This is your prospect’s desired future state. These should be similar to the outcomes your solution provides to your customers. ~~~ This is for: [company name] who sells [solution] to [persona]. Example clients of theirs are [insert examples] ✅ Step 3: Validate findings with real buyers NEVER rely on AI alone. - Take this to similar personas at your org - Take it to board members - Hire industry-expert consultants - Validate with customers ~~~ Leverage this approach to quickly build persona-based messaging to help your outbound/selling efforts. Was this helpful? Tag someone on your team who could benefit from this.

Founder: "Trust me, I know what my customers want."  Me: "Are you sure about that?" 🤔 I've helped 50+ founders with hundreds of customer interviews. The painful truth: the qualities that make you a great founder also make you terrible at customer interviews. Here's why: To pitch confidently, move fast, and solve problems, you need to be the expert. But great customer interviews require a beginner's mindset. Here's what actually works: 1. Become the student 📚 Every instinct will tell you to demonstrate expertise. Fight it. Your job isn't to prove you understand their problem or pitch your solution. Your job is to learn. Approach each conversation with genuine curiosity about their world, their challenges, and their attempts at solutions. 2. Master strategic silence 🤫 Most founders fill every pause to maintain momentum. Embrace silence instead. Wait 3 seconds when they finish talking. This is when people share their deepest insights, the things they weren't sure were "relevant" but reveal their true pain points. 3. Don't ask "would you use X?" Instead, ask: 🎯 -  "Tell me about the last time you encountered this problem..." -  "Walk me through how you currently handle this..." -  "What solutions have you already tried?" Then probe deeper: -  "Why did you try that first?" -  "What made that approach frustrating?" 4. Hunt for action-driving emotional triggers: 🔍 💰 "When was the last time this problem cost you money?" ⚡ "What finally made you start looking for a solution?" ⏰ "Where do you find yourself wasting the most time?" The moment you think you know your customers is the moment you stop learning from them.

Let's face it: most user interviews are a waste of time and resources. Teams conduct hours of interviews yet still build features nobody uses. Stakeholders sit through research readouts but continue to make decisions based on their gut instincts. Researchers themselves often struggle to extract actionable insights from their conversation transcripts. Here's why traditional user interviews so often fail to deliver value: 1. They're built on a faulty premise The conventional interview assumes users can accurately report their own behaviors, preferences, and needs. People are notoriously bad at understanding their own decision-making processes and predicting their future actions. 2. They collect opinions, not evidence "What do you think about this feature?" "Would you use this?" "How important is this to you?" These standard interview questions generate opinions, not evidence. Opinions (even from your target users) are not reliable predictors of actual behavior. 3. They're plagued by cognitive biases From social desirability bias to overweighting recent experiences to confirmation bias, interviews are a minefield of cognitive distortions. 4. They're often conducted too late Many teams turn to user interviews after the core product decisions have already been made. They become performative exercises to validate existing plans rather than tools for genuine discovery. 5. They're frequently disconnected from business metrics Even when interviews yield interesting insights, they often fail to connect directly to the metrics that drive business decisions, making it easy for stakeholders to dismiss the findings. 👉 Here's how to transform them from opinion-collection exercises into powerful insight generators: 1. Focus on behaviors, not preferences Instead of asking what users want, focus on what they actually do. Have users demonstrate their current workflows, complete tasks while thinking aloud, and walk through their existing solutions. 2. Use concrete artifacts and scenarios Abstract questions yield abstract answers. Ground your interviews in specific artifacts. Have users react to tangible options rather than imagining hypothetical features. 3. Triangulate across methods Pair qualitative insights with behavioral data, & other sources of evidence. When you find contradictions, dig deeper to understand why users' stated preferences don't match their actual behaviors. 4. Apply framework-based synthesis Move beyond simply highlighting interesting quotes. Apply structured frameworks to your analysis. 5. Directly connect findings to decisions For each research insight, explicitly identify what product decisions it should influence and how success will be measured. This makes it much harder for stakeholders to ignore your recommendations. What's your experience with user interviews? Have you found ways to make them more effective? Or have you discovered other methods that deliver deeper user insights?

To build emotional resonance, you need to connect with your audience on a personal level—and that starts with knowing them deeply. This goes beyond basic demographics like age, location, or income. Emotional connection happens when you understand their values, fears, and motivations. → Start by observing conversations in your niche. Look at social media comments, forums, or community spaces where your audience hangs out. → Pay attention to the language they use—what words and phrases pop up often? These conversations provide clues about their emotional triggers and concerns, which you can reflect in your messaging. → Conduct open-ended surveys that ask “why” questions rather than just “what” questions. For example, instead of asking which features they like, ask why those features matter to them. This reveals the emotions behind their preferences, helping you create messages that align with their deeper needs. → Lean into behavioral data. What content do they engage with the most? Which emails get opened and which links get clicked? Patterns in behavior tell a story—identify what topics capture their interest and shape future content around those insights. → Build personas that reflect real challenges and aspirations. Instead of general personas, create living profiles that evolve as you learn more about your audience. Use specific examples or anecdotes that help your team see the audience as individuals, not just statistics. → Most importantly, listen without assumptions. Don’t assume you know what your audience wants—stay curious, ask questions, and let their responses shape your strategy. When your audience feels understood, your content naturally becomes more engaging and emotionally resonant. Knowing your audience deeply means being present in their world. When you tap into their motivations and speak directly to their fears and aspirations, your message cuts through the noise and builds meaningful, lasting connections. #storytelling #marketing #customermarketing

It's a new year, which means more of the same content! I'm returning to the $750M content marketing playbook I've used for the past decade and sharing all of it. The CREATE framework is pretty straightforward and just a long marketing-heavy acronym for Craft, Research, Execute, Amplify, Track, and Evolve. We started with the C in CREATE: Crafting the Story. This is all about defining your narrative, starting with your audience and focusing on their outcomes. Whether you explain how your product helps teams ship faster or give tips on managing a highly productive team, the goal is clarity and connection. We look at an overall STORY and the THEMES. See image for an example. Now it's all about the customer: Research with Customers. And we want to involve customers for two reasons: 1. They are the end consumers. They’ll relate if the story fits their experience. 2. We want their involvement in the final content. Making our customers the heroes of the story inspires them to promote it. ---- To validate relational and operational themes, identify at least ten customers or prospects for interviews. Here’s how to approach it: Identity Customers & Prospects Select 10+ individuals across industries and company sizes for diverse perspectives. Prioritize those with existing relationships for better engagement. Prepare a Stories Guide Develop a discussion guide with open-ended questions tailored to relational and operational aspects. Allow room for participants to surface unanticipated insights. Conduct the Interviews Use video calls or in-person meetings for depth, keeping sessions under 45 minutes. Record (with consent) and transcribe interviews for analysis. Organize Takeaways  Categorize feedback into relational and operational buckets. Note which themes resonate most and why. Use Data to Craft Stories Use GenAI tools like ChatGPT to synthesize data into digestible stories. ---- Let’s look at the Stories Guide. What questions should we ask during the interviews? Here are some I’ve used in past iterations of this framework. They are designed to explore experiences, priorities, and pain points, and relational and operational themes align with their day-to-day experiences. General Context What’s the most rewarding and challenging part of your role as a (persona)? When you think about leading your team, what keeps you up at night? Relational Themes How do you manage team dynamics, especially when there’s resistance to new ideas or initiatives? Operational Themes How do you measure success for initiatives like (operational theme 1) or (operational theme 2)? Theme Validation Do these themes—relational (human aspects of leadership) and operational (execution and measurement)—resonate with your experience as a (persona)? Storytelling If we were to tell a story about overcoming one of these challenges, what would make it compelling to you? More on Execution in this weekend's send of the Revenue Diaries, part 4.

The best customer personas don’t stay static. They need to evolve as your customers do. One of the most valuable practices we’ve adopted at RingCentral is regularly reviewing and refining our personas to keep up with what our customers truly need. It’s helped us deliver solutions that feel more relevant and make a bigger impact. Here are a few practices we’ve adopted as part of this process that have worked well for us: 🔸 Set clear triggers for reviews. Don’t wait for an annual check-in. Plan to revisit personas after specific moments, such as launching a new product, entering a new market, or seeing a shift in customer feedback. 🔸 Look beyond surveys. Tools like RingCentral’s Customer Journey Analytics and AI Interaction Analytics help spot where customers get stuck, ask for help, or drop off. These patterns can reveal what your personas might be missing. 🔸 Listen to your frontline teams. Teams that speak with customers every day, like customer success or sales, can share stories that highlight gaps or changes you might not see otherwise. When your personas reflect the real people you’re serving right now, you’re better positioned to earn trust, solve problems, and grow. #CustomerExperience #CustomerJourney #CustomerSuccess

Your Product Managers are talking to customers. So why isn’t your product getting better? A few years ago, I was on a team where our boss had a rule: 🗣️ “Everyone must talk to at least one customer each week.” So we did. Calls were scheduled. Conversations happened. Boxes were checked. But nothing changed. No real insights. No real impact. Because talking to customers isn’t the goal. Learning the right things is. When discovery lacks purpose, it leads to wasted effort, misaligned strategy, and poor business decisions: ❌ Features get built that no one actually needs. ❌ Roadmaps get shaped by the loudest voices, not the right customers. ❌ Teams collect insights… but fail to act on them. How Do You Fix It? ✅ Talk to the Right People Not every customer insight is useful. Prioritize: -> Decision-makers AND end-users – You need both perspectives. -> Customers who represent your core market – Not just the loudest complainers. -> Direct conversations – Avoid proxy insights that create blind spots. 👉 Actionable Step: Before each interview, ask: “Is this customer representative of the next 100 we want to win?” If not, rethink who you’re talking to. ✅ Ask the Right Questions A great question challenges assumptions. A bad one reinforces them. -> Stop asking: “Would you use this?” -> Start asking: “How do you solve this today?” -> Show AI prototypes and iterate in real-time – Faster than long discovery cycles. -> If shipping something is faster than researching it—just build it. 👉 Actionable Step: Replace one of your upcoming interview questions with: “What workarounds have you created to solve this problem?” This reveals real pain points. ✅ Don’t Let Insights Die in a Doc Discovery isn’t about collecting insights. It’s about acting on them. -> Validate across multiple customers before making decisions. -> Share findings with your team—don’t keep them locked in Notion. -> Close the loop—show customers how their feedback shaped the product. 👉 Actionable Step: Every two weeks, review customer insights with your team to decipher key patterns and identify what changes should be applied. If there’s no clear action, you’re just collecting data—not driving change. Final Thought Great discovery doesn’t just inform product decisions—it shapes business strategy. Done right, it helps teams build what matters, align with real customer needs, and drive meaningful outcomes. 👉 Be honest—are your customer conversations actually making a difference? If not, what’s missing? -- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership + strategy.

Every PMM knows customer interviews matter. But most ask the wrong questions. Here’s the exact set I use to get buyer insights, not just user feedback: 👇 ✅ Background --> Tell me a bit about yourself and what you do. --> What is the goal of your [job, role, business]?  --> What does your day-to-day look like?  --> How do you keep up with industry trends in your field? --> What content do you consume, and what channel do you mostly use? ✅ Jobs-To-Be-Done --> What are some key challenges you have encountered in your job? --> What have you tried first to overcome the challenges?  --> What was the first time you thought: I need a new solution? --> What made you think that? [Probe here] --> What were you hoping to solve? What was the end game? ✅ Purchase decision --> How did you find out about our solution?  --> How long did it take for you to make a decision? At what point did you decide to purchase our solution? [try to understand the trigger event]  --> What were you looking to accomplish with the product? --> What pain were you looking to solve? --> What was the impression you had about the solution when you came across it?  --> Did you evaluate any other product or solution? --> Why did you choose our solution? --> Who is involved in the buying process? Who would you say is the final decision maker?  --> What were the most important factors you considered when purchasing a solution? ✅ Brand Perception --> Please describe the brand in 3 words - whatever comes to mind! --> If you were in charge of our company, what is one thing you'd change about the brand? --> Have you recommended our solution to anyone? If so, how and what did you say about us? ✅ Product --> Describe our solution in your own words - what is it? --> How would you feel if our solution went away tomorrow? --> What would you do if our solution went away tomorrow? --> Paint me a picture: how are you using our solution? Think of a recent specific time or two: what were you doing?   --> What specific functionalities do you find the most valuable/use the most often? --> What do you love about our solution?  --> What impact has our solution had on your work? --> Who would you say uses our solution the most in your team? How often do you use it?  --> What functionalities are not working well for you?  --> What is missing from our solution if anything? --> What other tools or platforms do you use alongside our solution to run or otherwise support you and your business? --> Under what circumstances, if any, would you switch to a different solution? ---- In summary, Great customer interviews start with open-ended questions, follow up on what’s interesting, and save talking about your product for last. That’s how you get the insights that help you refine your personas, shape messaging, and potentially help guide product direction. ❓ I am curious, what's your go-to question? #productmarketing #customer #interviews #coaching

"But James, how do I create audience-first content?" "Content that converts?" Here's how you do it 👇 P.S. Just joining my B2B mini series? Quick recap for you ❌ The Problem:  Product-first content that pushes features, not solutions. ✅ The Solution: Audience-first content that builds trust and demonstrates value. 📌 Here's your 5-step playbook: 1. Know Your Audience → Create detailed buyer personas → Understand their challenges and goals Make these feel REALLY real folks. Not some corporate "John Smith" personas. Map out their social and emotional goals / values. What content do they watch? Why do they like it? You need to be part-time psychologists here. Study the WHY behind what they like. Study the channels they watch. Study their habit loops. 2. Map the Buyer's Journey → Awareness: They realize they have a problem → Consideration: They're exploring solutions → Decision: They're ready to buy A great way to start? Find your friends. Whoever is CLOSE to your real personas. Get them to break down their last 3 purchases. Your goal here = reverse engineer the WHY behind how they buy. It's a powerful exercise that helps way more than whiteboarding. 3. Create Value-First Content → Awareness: Educational blog posts, infographics → Consideration: Case studies, comparison guides → Decision: Product demos, free trials Newsflash, most "awareness" B2B content is booooring. It's AI content churned out for blog posts. Don't be that brand. Invest in your media. Your media engine grows your followers. Followers you can then nurture into CUSTOMERS. 4. Showcase Your Expertise → Share insights from your team → Highlight customer success stories Your content is how you build trust at scale. Build there fav corner of the internet. Not just commodity content for SEO. Create for VALUE and ENJOYMENT. Not for Google rankings. 5. Nurture, Don't Push → Use email sequences to provide ongoing value → Invite engagement and feedback It's called SOCIAL media. Don't be anti-social. Talk WITH your audience. Not AT them. Your content should answer "What's in it for me?" If it doesn't? It's probably about you. Not about them ✌️