Building User Personas with AI

## What You'll Learn - What personas are (and the 7 anti-patterns that make them worthless) - How to synthesize 10+ interviews into 3-5 distinct personas using AI - The AI persona generation workflow (interview data → patterns → personas) - What to include: Demographics, goals, pain points, behaviors, quotes - How to use personas in product decisions (not just decorative) - When to update personas (quarterly review framework) --- ## Why This Matters (2 min read) **The Scenario:** You've just finished 12 customer interviews (using the techniques from Lessons 2.1-2.3). You have: - 12 transcripts (120+ pages) - 47 distinct pain points mentioned - 8 different "job titles" among interviewees - Patterns you *sense* but can't articulate - A nagging feeling some customers want totally different things Your developer asks: "So who are we building this for?" You say: "Small business owners." They say: "That's 33 million people in the US alone. Can you be more specific?" **You think:** "I have 120 pages of interviews. How do I turn this into something useful?" --- **This is where personas come in.** A persona is **not** a demographic profile. A persona is **not** a creative writing exercise. A persona is **not**...