Personas, Scenarios
& User Populations
Turn messy research into a usable picture of who you are designing for—without turning the persona into fiction.
By the end of class, you should be able to…
Define key tools
Explain persona, scenario, demographics and population stereotype.
Build from evidence
Distinguish research-based persona details from invented decoration.
Use carefully
Discuss advantages and disadvantages of personae, scenarios, demographics and population stereotypes.
Connect to decisions
Use a persona and scenario to identify requirements and questions for design.
A persona is a research summary with a human shape.
It represents relevant attributes found in a user population so designers can keep real needs visible during development.
Who?
Relevant demographic or contextual characteristics.
What do they do?
Patterns, habits, workarounds and attitudes found through research.
Why does the task matter?
Motivations, concerns, needs and opportunities.
The primary persona should be researched deeply.
Demographic context
Age, education, ethnicity, access challenges, family status, occupation—where relevant.
Abilities + skills
What can the user do confidently? What creates difficulty?
Environment
Physical, social and technological conditions surrounding the task.
Demographics describe groups; they do not automatically explain behaviour.
“Students aged 16–18.”
Helps define a population, but says little about how the product is actually used.
“Most carry a laptop in one hand while opening classroom doors.”
Directly informs the interaction problem.
A scenario describes a plausible use situation.
Maya leaves science carrying a laptop and water bottle. She reaches a heavy classroom door and must transfer the bottle to open it. The hallway is crowded and she is trying not to drop anything.
Relevant capability and behaviour.
Open and pass through the door while carrying items.
Crowded transition period with limited free hands.
Population stereotypes are shortcuts—and therefore risky.
The syllabus expects students to discuss advantages and disadvantages of stereotypes and demographics in UCD.
Fast starting hypothesis
A broad pattern may help a team decide what to investigate first.
Assumption becomes “fact”
Stereotypes can hide diversity and produce exclusionary design decisions.
Validate with research
Treat any stereotype as a question to test against real user evidence.
Each user model is useful—and each can mislead.
| Tool | Useful because… | Limitation / risk | Better practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary persona | Keeps important user patterns visible during design development. | Can oversimplify variation if one persona is treated as “everyone”. | Base attributes on research and keep checking against real users. |
| Scenario | Makes the task and environment concrete. | Can drift into fiction if the context is invented. | Ground the situation in observed or researched behaviour. |
| Demographics | Helps define and compare user populations. | Does not automatically explain motivations or behaviour. | Pair demographic information with behavioural evidence. |
| Population stereotype | Can provide a quick hypothesis about what to investigate. | May hide diversity, reinforce assumptions or lead to exclusion. | Treat it as a question to test—not as evidence. |
Persona or fiction?
A design team writes: “Jordan, 17, loves minimalist design, drinks matcha, hates plastic and always studies at coffee shops.” None of these details came from research.
What is the main problem?
Cluster evidence before writing the persona.
Collect
Interviews, observation, surveys, task evidence.
Find repeated patterns
Common needs, behaviours, motivations or limitations.
Prioritize relevance
Keep attributes that actually affect the redesign problem.
Represent
Create the primary persona and scenario grounded in those patterns.
The persona should generate better design questions.
Often carries objects in both hands
Observed during class transitions.
Can the task be completed one-handed?
A focused interaction question.
Reduce need for two-hand operation
Later justified through testing and user feedback.
Build a compact evidence-based persona.
Use this research summary: 8 students observed using a shared charging station; 6 keep phones connected while working; 5 pull cables sideways; 4 report difficulty seeing which port is available; two users use one hand because the other is holding a laptop.
Persona vocabulary
Retrieve first. Then check.
Can you retrieve it without looking back?
Before you leave…
Task Analysis & User Journey Mapping
Keep the evidence chain moving: user → research → decision → test.
A2.1.5 · primary persona · scenarios · population stereotypes · demographics · advantages and disadvantages of these user models · IA primary-persona preparation.