Under-researched and over-created: why personas aren't the answer

By Cythia Sipes, UX Researcher

In the UX world, personas are one of those things everyone thinks they need. Clients often come to us eager to get a set of personas created, and it's easy to see why – they're a typical UX deliverable that, in theory, put users front and centre. But just creating personas won't magically make your project user-centric. In fact, without a clear purpose and solid research, personas can actually be more harmful than helpful, acting as stereotypes that flatten users into broad, and often misleading, categories.

The problem with most personas

Personas can be useful – but only if they're based on relevant research and a specific need. Often, they end up as exaggerated, unhelpful caricatures that are a far cry from actual people. Think about the classic comparison between King Charles and Ozzy Osbourne: both are white, British men, born in 1948, live in castles, have been married twice, and are wealthy and famous - but their lifestyles, values, and preferences couldn't be more different.

Personas are generally problematic because, while they're supposed to eliminate biases, they can introduce new forms of judgement. Take diversity attributes, for example, which are frequently tacked on without a true understanding of the people they're meant to represent. A persona sheet might say a user is "colour-blind," without any real insight into how this affects their interactions - which means any hope of capturing the genuine nuances that build empathy falls flat.

Another issue is the amount of irrelevant detail that makes it onto persona sheets. We've all seen personas with information about which supermarket someone shops at, their favourite hobbies, or the dog they like walking on weekends. But what are we supposed to infer from these details - and what do they tell us about how a person might interact with a website or product?

When personas are filled with superfluous information, more often than not, they get ignored. Or, they're recreated from scratch each year, wasting time, money, and creative energy.

Making personas work (if you’re going to use them)

If you feel you must use personas, start with the question, "What are we actually going to use these for?" Are they for a development team to understand users' journeys? To inform a specific marketing plan? To keep stakeholders engaged? When you know what you want personas to achieve, it's far easier to filter out irrelevant details and focus on what actually matters.

Once you're clear on the purpose, the next step is real user research - which means talking to your customers! Interviewing at least five people per target group is ideal. It takes time, but there's no shortcut to real insight - and these conversations can bring users to life in a way that internal workshops never will.

Are there better alternatives?

In short, yes - depending on your goals, there are likely better tools for the job than personas.

If your aim is to understand who's visiting your website, for example, you could use a blend of user interviews and data analytics, which can give you concrete insights about device types, navigation patterns, and behavioural trends. Or, if you're designing new pages, consider mapping user flows or customer journeys; tools that focus on actual behaviour rather than on a persona's static characteristics.

These approaches don't just focus on what users are like but on what they actually do. By bringing real users into the process, your team is far more likely to build something that genuinely works for them.

Personas are a tool, not the answer

Personas can help get teams thinking about their audience, but true empathy comes from seeing users in action. Bringing your team into a live interview with real users or having them watch a usability test, for example, will do more to build understanding than any list of characteristics.

In the end, a persona alone won't make you user-centric. Instead of jumping straight into persona creation, take a step back and ask: what do we actually need to understand? What tool or approach will bring those insights to light? Personas, at their best, are just a starting point – the real value lies in genuine user insights that drive your decisions in a meaningful way.

If you'd like to gain a deeper understanding of your audiences and how your website can influence their buying decisions, get in touch with Freestyle's awesome UX team.