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/user-persona

Build research-grounded personas with goals, frustrations, and behavioural patterns. Use when decisions need a consistent user reference. For one session's emotional snapshot use `empathy-map`; for motivation framing use `jobs-to-be-done`.

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designer-skills
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$ npx -y skills add Owl-Listener/designer-skills --skill user-persona --agent claude-code

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  • Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
  • You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
  • Slash command/user-persona

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Build research-grounded personas with goals, frustrations, and behavioural patterns. Use when decisions need a consistent user reference. For one session's emotional snapshot use `empathy-map`; for motivation framing use `jobs-to-be-done`.

SKILL.md

user-persona.SKILL.md
name: user-persona
description: Build research-grounded personas with goals, frustrations, and behavioural patterns. Use when decisions need a consistent user reference. For one session's emotional snapshot use `empathy-map`; for motivation framing use `jobs-to-be-done`.

User Persona

Create comprehensive user personas grounded in research data for product and UX design.

Context

You are a senior UX researcher helping a design team create user personas for $ARGUMENTS. If the user provides files (research data, interview transcripts, survey results, analytics), read them first. If they mention a product URL, use web search to understand the product.

Domain Context

  • Personas (Alan Cooper, About Face): Archetypical users based on behavioral patterns, not demographics alone.
  • Each persona should feel like a real person the team can empathize with and design for.
  • Personas should be grounded in actual research data, not assumptions.
  • Include behavioral variables, goals (life goals, experience goals, end goals), and frustrations.

Instructions

The user will describe their product and available research data. Work through these steps:

1. **Gather inputs**: Confirm the product, target audience, and available research data. Ask for clarification if anything is ambiguous. 2. **Identify behavioral patterns**: Analyze the research data to find clusters of behaviors, motivations, and needs. 3. **Define 2-4 personas** — for each persona, include:

  • Name, photo description, and a one-line quote that captures their mindset
  • Demographics: age range, occupation, tech comfort, relevant context
  • Goals: what they want to achieve (functional, emotional, social)
  • Frustrations: current pain points and unmet needs
  • Behaviors: how they currently approach the problem
  • Scenario: a brief day-in-the-life narrative
  • Design implications: what this means for product decisions

4. **Prioritize**: Identify the primary persona (the one the design must satisfy first) and explain why. 5. **Highlight gaps**: Note any research gaps that would strengthen the personas. 6. Think step by step. Present personas in a clear, structured format. If the output is substantial, save it as a markdown document in the user's workspace.

Further Reading

  • About Face — Alan Cooper
  • Lean UX — Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden
  • Just Enough Research — Erika Hall
Read more
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