Personas turn research into a shared picture of who you are designing for. This template helps you capture behaviors, goals, and constraints without fluff.
What you'll get:
- A copy/paste user persona template
- A quick checklist
- A filled-in example
Use the sections below as building blocks; keep what you need and delete the rest.
Personas are strongest when grounded in research, so pair this with the user interview template.
References for this guide are listed at the end.
What is a user persona?
A user persona is a fictional profile that represents a real segment of your user base. It summarizes goals, pain points, behaviors, and context so teams design with real users in mind.
Why use a user persona template?
Personas help teams make consistent decisions and align on who they are building for.
Benefits include:
- Synthesizing research in a clear, shareable format
- Highlighting goals and pain points at a glance
- Keeping teams aligned across design, product, and marketing
- Making personas easier to compare by using consistent layouts
What to include in a user persona template
Most personas include:
- Name and photo
- Role and background
- Goals and motivations
- Pain points and frustrations
- Behaviors, habits, and context of use
- Quotes or key insights
Justinmind notes that personas typically include a fictional name and picture plus a short bio and key details. Mural and Maze emphasize goals, motivations, and frustrations as core sections.
User persona template (copy/paste)
Use this template in a doc, spreadsheet, or whiteboard.
Snapshot
- Persona name:
- Role or segment:
- Short bio:
- Quote:
Goals and motivations
- Primary goal:
- Secondary goals:
- Motivations:
Pain points and frustrations
- Key problems:
- Obstacles:
- Triggers that cause drop-off:
Behaviors and context
- Typical tasks:
- How they research or decide:
- Tools they use:
- Preferred channels:
Environment
- Devices:
- Constraints:
- Accessibility needs (if relevant):
Evidence and sources
- Research inputs:
- Data links:
User persona checklist
- [ ] Persona is based on research, not assumptions
- [ ] Goals and pain points are clearly defined
- [ ] Behaviors and context are documented
- [ ] The layout is consistent across personas
- [ ] The persona is shared and easy to find
Mini example (filled in)
Persona name: Alex, Busy Team Lead
Role: SaaS team admin
Bio: Manages a remote team and needs fast onboarding
Goals: Set up projects quickly, reduce training time
Pain points: Confusing setup steps, unclear permissions
Behaviors: Skims docs, prefers short videos and checklists
Tools: Slack, Notion, Jira
Quote: "I need to get the team productive in a day, not a week."
Common mistakes to avoid
- Creating personas without research
- Overloading personas with unnecessary demographic details
- Treating personas as static documents
Maze and UXPressia stress research-driven personas and keeping them flexible over time.
FAQ
Do you need demographics in every persona?
Not always. Maze notes that demographics are not required unless they are directly relevant to the research goals.
How many personas should you create?
Keep it focused on the main user segments so the team can remember and use them.
Should personas be updated?
Yes. Mural recommends keeping personas up to date as products and audiences evolve.
References
- Maze — User Persona Template
- Justinmind — User Persona Templates
- UXPressia — How To Create Persona Guide Examples
- Mural — User Personas
- Lucid — User Persona
Related resources
- User interview questions template
- UX research plan template
- User journey mapping template
- Usability testing template
- UX audit template
If you want a fast UX review for a specific page, start here: Website UX Audit
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